Secret Lovers
by amehanaa
Summary: I wasn't expecting to fall in love. Let alone having to conceal my true feelings in front of everyone.
1. Arrival

**Konnichiwa! c:**

**THIS IS A TEACHER X STUDENT FANFIC. If you don't like it, please don't read. I'm not making the teacher super old, don't worry. They are only going to be 7 years older than the student. Also, it's a modern AU.**

**If everyone enjoys this fanfic, I'll continue it! I'm not too sure if everyone will like it. This is just the opening for the fanfic to get everything settled. I'll hopefully be updating every 3-4 days! Enjoy. （*＾3＾）/～**

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I dump my multiple suitcases on the hard floor as soon as I arrive at my new single bedroom apartment. Hours on a train are extremely exhausting. The only way to entertain yourself on a train is to look outside during the day and count how many living beings you spot. The highest I've counted so far is 24. It's way higher than I expected it to be.

"Stupid Dad, who knew you hated me this much to send me off by myself," I mumble to myself.

It still shocks me that my father sent me away without my consent. He has always resented me since Mom died. He's such a jerk. All he ordered me to do was to pack all of my belongings and go to the train station and search for the train that was going straight to a town named Magnolia. He explained I was going to be living in an apartment by myself and go to the local school he had enrolled me in. Every three weeks he was going to send me enough money so I could pay for my rent, get clothes every now and then, and eat three full meals a day.

Quite frankly, I didn't want to stay at home anymore. My house was too depressing when I came back from school, I despised it. Yet it still appalls me that I got kicked out of my own home. How strange.

I will admit, my apartment isn't too shabby. It contains a single bedroom with two bathrooms. There's a living room with enough space to fit five laying down men. Not that I planned to have five men, anyway. A lovely 32 inch TV sits on a counter, waiting to be watched on.

The kitchen is quite big, too. I have enough room to dance around in. I check the interior of the fridge and to my surprise, there's food. Eggs, milk, juice, even some yogurt. A huge grin spreads across my face. I'm eager to play my music the loudest it can go and dance around while cooking. Living solo is actually quite thrilling.

After the tedious work of taking out my clothes and placing them inside the dresser, it's already dinner time. My stomach growls loudly.

I facepalm myself. How could I possibly forget to buy dinner on the train so I could eat it here?

Grabbing my bag, I exit my apartment. The September air hits me square in the face instantly. The smell of fall lingers in the air.

I walk towards my right and lightly tap on the door. I wait until my patience dries out, the door doesn't open.

I walk to the left of my apartment and try again. I thump on the door with my knuckles. The door swings open immediately. A bubbly voice fills my ears.

"Hello there, new neighbor!" A long-haired girl with white hair greets me _way_ too enthusiastically.

"Uh.. Yeah, hey! New.." I cough. "Neighbor."

"My name is Mirajane," she holds out a fragile pale hand to me.

I shake it firmly. I feel like I'm going to break her hand.

"My name is Lucy Heartfilia. Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to bother you just to ask this, but where is the nearest convenience store?"

"Oh, it's right down the street. If you go down those stairs," Mirajane points to the metal stairs a couple of feet away, "You won't be able to miss it!"

"Thank you so much," I begin to wave.

"Are you going to get dinner there? I'd love to make some dinner for you!" She offers while sticking her head towards me.

"Oh, no no, it's okay! Thank you very much, though. I'll see you later!" I smile at her and walk towards the direction Mirajane directed me to.

I step down the stairs completely thankful that the street lamps are bright enough for me to see where I'm stepping. I reach the convenience store in less than a minute. It really was convenient.

A bell resonates throughout the store as I enter. My stomach rumbles as soon as my eyes settle on the aisle with frozen food. I speed walk to the aisle, praying to Mavis that they have my favorite item here.

I quietly cheer when I see the frozen macaroni and cheese box. I grab two boxes elated that I will have a great dinner tonight. As I'm walking to the check out counter I pick my favorite strawberry soda.

When I first entered I didn't notice anybody at the check out counter but as I'm getting to the counter, there is a man with his back towards me.

"So hard to choose," A deep voice says. I watch the his broad shoulders slouch.

"Sir, will you please hurry up? There is somebody waiting behind you," the cashier politely urges the man.

"How can I hurry up when I can't pick which one I like better?!" The man swiftly pivots around towards me. My heart stops beating.

He looks like he's around my age. His slanted hazel eyes are intimidating but warmth dances shyly in the shadows inside them. Sharp pearly whites sit perfectly inside his mouth. His tan skin matches flawlessly with his plain white t-shirt. A scarf hangs off his neck. I look up at his hair. It's _pink_. I kid you not, it's a bright pink. Somebody clearly messed up at dying his hair. Nevertheless, he is probably the most attractive man I've seen in real life.

"Please help me. I can't choose which one I like better. The red or dark red?" He holds up two objects to my face.

I focus on the objects. They're two little key chains, being the logos of the best band I've ever listened to; Fairy Tail.

I press my lips together trying not to laugh, "Why don't you just get both?"

The male gawks at me like I grew a third eye, "Who would I give the other key chain to?"

"To someone who loves Fairy Tail, of course," I reply.

"You know Fairy Tail?" The man asks shocked.

I slightly nod.

He spins around and hurriedly pays for the key chains. He whirls back to me.

"Then I shall give it to you, my lady," He hands me the dark red key chain. His hand is warm.

"Are you sure? I'd feel really bad if I just took it, let me repay you," I start searching through my bag.

"Consider it as a thank you for listening to Fairy Tail."

He grasps my frozen macaroni boxes to place the key chain in my hand. His fingers slightly brush against mine.

"T-t-thank you," I stutter.

_I'm so stupid._

"You're welcome! I'm leaving now, I hope we meet again!" The man happily waves at me and exits the convenience store after placing my frozen dinner on the counter.

I rapidly pay for my dinner and thank the cashier. I jog outside and scan the area in hopes of seeing the man walking off. I need to chase after him to at least get his name. There are, unfortunately, no pink heads.

I trot back to my apartment, replaying what just happened. I can't control my quick heartbeat. Is this what they call love at first sight? It's painful.

I hop in place as I wait for the microwave to finish heating up my food. All thoughts of love disintegrate into the air.

A sweet macaroni and cheese aroma fills the kitchen, it's unbearable. The beep of the microwave gives me the same happiness as winning the lottery. I open the microwave door to see the creamy yellow cheese melt all over the macaroni pasta. My mouth drools as I'm sliding out the tray.

I enter the fork into my mouth and lay back into my chair with a smile on my face. This macaroni was just too damn good.

Before I realize it, my plate is squeaky clean. I just started eating it, how is it already finished? The ghosts must be extra hungry tonight.

I clean the fork and throw away the plastic tray in the trash. After slipping into my summer time pajamas, I leap into my bed enjoying the softness of it.

The school year has already begun but Dad told me I was to start going in a week. That is more than enough time for me to get accustomed to my new home.

I grab the Fairy Tail key chain I placed on the nightstand and dangle it in front of me. This very key chain was just in the hands of the handsome pink haired stranger. I can't hide my smile.

Seconds later, my eyes feel like they're five pounds. I doze off right away and to my surprise, I don't dream of anything. Although off into the corner of my dream, I see pink hair man with blinding white teeth smiling at me.


	2. Slowly Learning

**Chapter 2, hello hello! **

**I forgot to add a disclaimer for this story. This is why I'm an amateur writer, everyone. So without further adooooo.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail! I can't even draw a stick figure, what does that show you?**

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I wake up to the sun using its evil rays to stab me in the eyes. I shield my face with my forearm. First morning in Magnolia and I'm already turning blind. What a great way to wake up.

I lay in my comfy bed and turn on my left side. I look straight at the Fairy Tail key chain.

_He was real._

Last night seems a bit iffy to me, so I for some reason kept questioning his existence. He seems too real to be true. I glance at my alarm clock and it's exactly 10 in the morning. I sigh happily to myself.

"When was the last time I slept in?" I ask out loud.

Truthfully, it is a bit disheartening being alone in an apartment. It's all fun and games until you realize there isn't a voice to respond back to you. Before my mood gets ruined, I rise out of bed and speedily brush my teeth. I energetically skip to the kitchen and grab an egg. I then crack the pale egg on the edge of a bowl with ease. Minutes later, a pleasing plate of scrambled eggs lay in front of me. I dig into the food like a little kid.

I decide to spend my first day at my apartment doing what I do best; reading. I play my music on the stereo as a background noise and sprawl across the couch. I drift into the reading world for what seems like minutes and I turn my head at the clock; it's already 5 in the afternoon.

_Wow, I really do need friends._

I heave myself up and groan to my heart's content. I hear two faint knocks on my door. I stand on my tip toes to see through the peep-hole to see the one and only.

"Hi, Mirajane! Come in."

"No, that's okay! I just came by to ask if you wanted to come out with my little sister and I for a little walk around the park," she smiles sweetly.

Her gentle smile burns into my soul.

"Yeah, okay, let me get dressed."

After getting dressed, I go out of my apartment and I am met with Mirajane and another petite white-haired girl. The only characteristic the girl doesn't share with Mirajane is her hair. Her hair is in the style of a pixie cut. She's just as adorable as her sister.

"Hi, neighbor! I'm Lisanna," she grabs my hand and shakes it twice.

"Hi, Lisanna. I'm Lucy."

"You're just as cute as Mira-nee described!" Lisanna grips my hand again.

I look down at our connected hands and instantly feel awkward. Physical contact with strangers always figures out a way to shut me up.

"Well, thanks," I scratch the back of my neck with my free hand.

"Let's get going now, shall we?" Mirajane starts stepping down the stairs.

I mentally thank Mirajane when Lisanna releases my hand.

"So, why did you come to Magnolia?" Lisanna asks me while we're walking on a sidewalk.

"My dad thought this town was really cool and he wanted to see if I could be independent," I sugarcoat my real situation.

"Independent? You seem like you are already," Mirajane compliments.

"I'm as independent as a 17 year old girl can be, I suppose," I shrug.

Mirajane and Lisanna abruptly stop walking. I look back and furrow my eyebrows at them in confusion.

"You're 17?!" The sisters yell simultaneously.

"According to my birth certificate, yes."

"You look like you're my age..." Lisanna's voice trails off in astonishment.

"How old are you?" I hesitantly ask.

"I'm 24. Mira-nee is 26."

I feel my jaw dip to the ground. These two people, _women_, had the faces of teenagers!

"You guys are so old," I blurt out.

Mirajane pouts, "Hey! That's offensive."

"Ah, sorry sorry!" I wave my hands in the air.

We continue walking again. I peer around at the trees. Just at the very tip of each green leaf is a spot of red or orange. The finale of summer is finally here.

"So that means you're going to Magnolia High?" Mirajane inquires.

"Yep, I start next week! It actually makes me sad that you two aren't students there. I don't want to go to school not knowing anybody," I admit.

"Actually, you'll know me!" Lisanna cheers gleefully.

"And me!" Mirajane adds.

"What do you mean?" I ask curiously.

"I'm the math teacher there," Lisanna winks at me.

"And I'm the drama teacher there," Mirajane beams.

"I'm glad you're my math teacher, Lisanna!" I smile widely at her. I turn to Mirajane and my smile falls, "I don't think I'm taking drama."

"I'll make sure to give you the easy problems," Lisanna assures me.

Mirajane is silent, disappointment splattered across her face.

"Uh.. Mira-"

"Mira-nee, stop being such a baby," Lisanna cuts me off.

I giggle as I watch Mirajane and Lisanna playfully fight. Their faces mirror each others, they look just like twins. I envy their relationship as siblings.

We decide to situate ourselves at a picnic table in the park. I sit on one side while Mirajane and Lisanna sit in front of me. I place my elbow on the table and lazily lean my chin against my hand.

"Are there any teachers I should watch out for?"

The sisters position their hands on their chins in thought. They look completely identical, it's unnatural.

"You might want to watch out for the vice principal, Erza," Lisanna suggests.

"The principal, Makarov, is the sweetest man you'll ever meet," Mirajane adds.

"Elfman, our brother, will probably yell at you if you walk instead of run," Lisanna continues.

"Gray is a cool ceramics teacher!" Mirajane gushes.

"And Natsu is the best English teacher!" Mirajane and Lisanna shout together.

I nod slowly, letting all the information sink in. Thankfully, there weren't as many teachers as I expected.

"Makarov-sensei, Gray-sensei, Natsu-sensei are good. Erza-sensei and Elf-sensei are bad."

"That's right!" Mirajane gives me a thumbs up.

"And I'm assuming Lisanna-sensei and Mira-sensei are the best?" I joke.

"Correct!" We all laugh together.

"You're so young, it's hard to believe," Lisanna says in awe.

"But you're also mature," Mirajane agrees.

I don't say anything but stare blankly. What am I supposed to say when people tell me I look old? 'Thanks! I try my best.'?

"We should head back now, I'm sure Lucy wants to get ready for school," Mirajane raises herself from the table.

"I don't start till next week," I remind her.

"Stay at ours for dinner!" Lisanna invites.

I smile at her, "Yeah, sure!"

We're not far from our apartments so it takes us minutes to return.

While Mirajane is unlocking the apartment door I ask, "Who is the person that lives on the right of me?"

"I wish I could tell you, but it's a secret," Lisanna answers sadly.

"Oh, come on! You can tell me, I won't say anything," I clap my hands together and plead.

"Nope, can't say. She'd kill me if I did."

"So it's a she?" I investigate.

"Possibly a he. I can't really remember!" Lisanna smiles innocently.

I frown as I enter the apartment. I study the build of the apartment and see it's exactly the same as mine, although they have family pictures hanging around the walls. I walk over to the closest one. Mirajane sits in the middle, smiling sweetly as always. Behind her stand Lisanna and a man who looks like he's as tall as Bigfoot.

"T-that's Elf-sensei?" I point at the picture with my mouth open.

"Just think of him as a huge teddy bear," Mirajane calls out from the kitchen.

"That's going to be sort of hard," I gulp.

I walk over to the kitchen and see Mirajane swiftly slicing tomatoes. Lisanna is at their table surrounded by a whole bunch of papers. Her pen flies onto the paper and switches to the next. Grading is serious business.

"Do you want any help, Mira-sensei? I'm a real good cook!" I tell her.

"Lucy, you are the guest! I can't possibly make the guest cook. And please, out of school, you can just call me Mirajane. Putting the 'sensei' at the end makes me uncomfortable," she laughs.

I have no other choice but to nod. I sit down at the chair facing Lisanna. Her eyes and hands move at the same pace, it's hard to keep up. I have to move my eyes so much I feel like I'm watching two people play table tennis. I hear the apartment door creak open. I twist around in my seat to see who it is.

"What's for dinner tonight?" A deep voice vibrates throughout the whole apartment. My eyes widen in surprise.

"Lasagna!" Mirajane says casually, not affected by the voice whatsoever.

"Sounds good," the owner of the voice reveals himself.

He's huge, no, _enormous_. Each step he takes, his massive feet almost crumble the floor. His hair is the same as his sisters; a frosty white. They spike up to the ceiling, I'm positive they're touching it. A stitched scar runs down the right side of his eye. His eyes are not even the least bit similar to Mirajane and Lisanna's soft blue eyes. They're two black holes of pure hatred. I stand up to introduce myself.

"Hello, I'm Lucy Heartfilia. Nice to meet you! I will be attending Magnolia High soon," I try not to show my fear.

"Hi, man. Just call me Elf-sensei," he towers over me.

"Haha.." I start coughing as I sit back down. He frightens me immensely.

"So, do you three live here together?" I ask the siblings.

"No, it's just Lisanna and I, Elfman lives by himself. He comes over every night for dinner, though," Mirajane explains.

"A man must live by himself," I hear Elf-sensei mutter to himself.

I eye him with my eyebrows scrunched. He sure enjoys using the word 'man.'

"Done!" Lisanna announces.

"You grade papers so fast, Lisanna-sensei," I say in disbelief.

"Hey, I'm the same as Mira-nee, don't say 'sensei' outside of school," she points her finger at me.

"Oh, okay, right!" I nod.

I don't understand how Mirajane did it, but one second she was chopping tomatoes and the next second a cheesy slice of lasagna is plated right in front of me. The white cheese makes my mouth water. I bite into the lasagna and I have to stop myself from crying out loud. This is the most heavenly thing I've ever tasted.

"Mirajane, please become my personal cook," I beg as I enter a huge piece of lasagna into my mouth.

"That's tempting!" Mirajane laughs at my humor.

As I'm eating like I'm related to all cavemen, I watch the three siblings talk. Each of them pick on each other. Mirajane picks on Elf-sensei, Elf-sensei screams about manliness, Lisanna chimes in with Mirajane, and repeat.

"You three make me want siblings," I confess.

"You don't have siblings?! That's abuse!" Lisanna drops her fork on the plate in horror.

"We'll be your siblings!" Mirajane declares.

"Yes!" Lisanna agrees.

"Men!" Elf-sensei roars.

I feel tears waiting to leave my eyes. Even if we're truly not siblings, just knowing that I have someone who cares for me as a sibling touches me in a way I'll never be able to explain. It's overwhelming.

_Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry._

"Thank you," I smile as wide as I can.

"Would you like any dessert, Lucy?" Mirajane proposes.

"Oh, Mavis. I think my stomach would explode if I ate anymore," I reply sadly.

"That's just too bad.. And I just made this this morning," she holds up a chocolate cake.

I give in, "Well, don't mind if I do!"

I practically waddle my way to Mirajane's door after dinner. Each step takes the same effort as hiking the tallest mountain that has ever soared across the sky.

"Thank you so so so much for dinner tonight, it was wonderful," I thank Mirajane.

Mirajane puts her hands on her cheeks, "Oh, stop!"

"Have a goodnight! You too, Lisanna and Elf-sensei!" I call out to them.

"Goodnight!" I hear the two reply.

I exit the apartment with a huge smile plastered on my face. They seem like they have no problems in the world. They make me feel tremendously relaxed. I enter my apartment and as I close the door, I let my back fall against it. I plan what I'm going to do tomorrow in the silence.

I hear a sound of a door opening from outside. Footsteps. They sound like work shoes. The door clicks shut. I eagerly unlock my door and pop my head outside.

The noise belongs to the mysterious right side of my apartment.


	3. This Is What It Feels Like

**Chapter 3, hi. c:**

**I literally wrote this in two days and fell asleep at midnight both nights. And I had school the next day.. It wasn't good. **

**I have exams Tuesday and Wednesday, I apologize in advance if chapter 4 comes out a little late. **

**Anyway, please enjoy and happy Saturday~**

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Day two in Magnolia. So far so good.

It's 9:30 in the morning when I return from being in the dreaming world. I dreamed of the creamy lasagna and how I was able to eat it six times. I wake up with my stomach crooning hungry melodies.

I grant my stomach's wish and munch on cereal. I slurp the leftover milk in the bowl loudly. Oh, the joys of being able to be a complete slob at home.

After taking a soothing morning shower, I decide to go aimlessly explore Magnolia. I know there won't be anybody on the streets, as they are at work or in school. I have the town to myself.

I snatch the Fairy Tail key chain from my night stand and connect it to my keys for my apartment. About time I did it, really.

I turn the doorknob and step outside. I hear the sound of crumpling paper beneath me. I look down and see a small square paper with neat cursive handwriting. Flattening out the paper, I read it.

"Good morning, Lucy! Mira-nee and I have meetings today after school so we won't be able to get together tonight. Sorry! Here's a list of places you should go check out today!"

Below is a bulleted list of different places in Magnolia. I stuff the paper inside my bag and start heading towards the direction that perks my interest. I walk past the convenience store, the memory of the attractive pink haired man comes back to me. My cheeks feel hot.

I wonder if he's in school now? What school does he go to? Does he like to learn? What's his favorite subject? Does he have a girlfriend? Who is he?

Thousands of questions fly into my head at once. I shake them out. He doesn't know me and I don't know him. That's all that matters. I convince myself I do _not_ care about this man, but I catch my inner-self hoping to see him around today. I mentally lecture myself.

I absentmindedly roam the town throughout the day. I enter several of the stores Lisanna mentioned in the note, but nothing catches my attention. For lunch I nibble on a crispy slice of pizza. A long string of cheese stretches out as I bite into it. I give the pizzeria man a thumbs up as I leave the restaurant.

It's late afternoon by the time that I go into another random store. This one is different. None of the store lights are on. The windows from the entrance are the only source of light. Streaks of light surge from the windows, making everybody glow.

In the front of the shop are a whole bunch of CD's and players so you're able to plug your headphones into and listen. In the back of the store are shelves and shelves of books. I make a bee line to the books.

I have to force myself from skipping along the aisles. Libraries, no matter how small, will always make me feel overjoyed. The shelves are quite tall, there are two more rows of books above me. I have to raise myself on the tips of my toes just to see the books. I decide to stick to the books that I can reach for the time being. I touch the spines of each book faintly as I read the titles. Quickly turning around to read more titles, instead of more books, I am met with a back. My face collides to the stranger's back. I step backward, putting a hand to my forehead.

"Excuse me," I say.

The person pivots towards me. I feel let down when I see it is not who I wanted it to be.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry," the stranger looks down at me with concern.

I give him an assuring smile and switch to the next aisle to read more book titles. After reading all the book titles and mentally taking notes of what I want to buy, I go to the music area in the front of the store.

I look down at the baskets neatly filled with CD's. There are all kinds of genres. Some group names I have never heard of. As I go through the first row of CD's the last one catches my attention. It is one of Fairy Tail's albums. I pull it out and hold on to it tightly. I observe the other people in the store, watching them work the system to listen to the CD. I go over to one of them and attempt to mimic their actions.

I push in the disk into the system, listening to it spinning. The screen of the player displays the tracklist of the album and I tap on my favorite song on it with my finger. I'm directed to a screen that reads, 'NO HEADPHONES.'

I search through my bag, hoping I didn't forget my earphones. I sulk when I don't see them. Out of all days, why did I forget my headphones _today_?

I have a staring contest with the screen. I feel a tapping on my left shoulder.

I turn my head to the left and there isn't anybody standing there. Confused, I turn my head to the right. There are white earphones swinging in front of my face. I look at the person behind the swaying and my heart speeds up instantly.

"I have come to your rescue," the pink haired man grins at me.

"My hero," I say sarcastically, a smile forming on my face.

"That's what I aim to be. I know what it feels like to forget your headphones so you can use mine while I'm here," he hands me his earphones.

I pop one of the buds into my right ear and hold up the left one towards him. He looks at it like he's never seen it before in his life.

I raise an eyebrow, "What?"

"What are we going to listen to?" He asks me while inserting the bud into his ear.

"Close your eyes and listen," I order.

I watch his eyelids flutter shut and I try not to stare too long. I tear my eyes away from him and touch the screen again. It lightens up again and I begin playing my favorite song. The melody of the song comforts me immediately.

I look up at him and see his eyes are still shut. I close my eyes with him. I hum to the lyrics. When the song is halfway over, I open my eyes to look up at the man. He looks down at me with a small smile playing across his lips. I try to hide my blush.

He stretches his arm across me and lowers the music.

"Is this your favorite song?"

I nod, "I fell in love with it the second I listened to it."

"It's a good song," he agrees. "This is my favorite."

He leans over me to get to the screen, our shoulders touch and his scarf tickles my nose. He picks the song and returns the volume back where it was before. I attentively listen to the song, a bit familiar with the lyrics. I look at him with my peripheral vision. He's slightly nodding his head to the beat.

I cover my mouth with my hand and try not to laugh. Why did he look cool just doing _that?_

The song finishes and a new one comes on.

"This is my second favorite song," we say together.

We gape at each other in silence.

"Whoa," we say together again.

"Hey!" We repeat.

We laugh. His laugh makes me feel like I'm floating. Why did his laugh sound so great?

I watch him laugh, seeing a tiny dimple form on his face. His hard hazel eyes shine with the sun behind me. The warmth in his eyes spread, they swirl around like a lava lamp.

The song ends and a new one doesn't play.

"Uh oh," we say together once again.

We glare at each other with huge grins.

I reach over to unplug the headphones from the player and I meet up with his hand. Our knuckles crash against each other. I pull mine back.

"Ah, sorry," I say as I start taking out the earphone in my ear. I hand it to him.

"Do you like coffee?" He asks, twirling the earphones around his fingers.

"A bit too much," I reply, watching them.

"I know this really good café, would you like to accompany me?"

I try not to beam too much, "Yes, I would love to."

I follow him towards the door and he opens it for me.

"What is your name, by the way?" He asks me as we're walking along the sidewalk.

"It's Lucy. What's your name?"

"Lucy, my name is a secret."

My mouth drops, "Hey, that's not fair!"

"The only thing you can do now is live the rest of your life not knowing my name forever," he shrugs.

"What does your name start with?" I ask.

"S," he says.

"Liar! It's not!"

I watch his eyes widen a bit. I check off the letter S in my mind.

"We're here," He says as he open a door for me. The smell of cocoa is strong, I feel like if I open my mouth the air will taste like coffee.

I lay the name game to rest but keep it at the back of my mind. I will get his name, I swear it.

He picks a booth with menus already placed on it. I sit on one side, he sits in front of me facing me. I squeeze the edge of the seat in anxiety. Is this a dream or am I actually here?

I'm thankful that the café isn't silent; music plays in the background and groups of conversations surround us. We pick up our menus at the same time.

The menu is fairly small, only being a laminated paper. The front side of the paper lists the different coffees and the back names the multiple pastries they sell. I bite my bottom lip in thought. Would it make me look weird if I ordered coffee _and_ a pastry? I peek up at him from the menu, not moving my head. I watch his eyes move while he's reading the menu. My heart accelerates for the fifth time today.

I place my menu back down on the table when I see what I want. He imitates me.

"Why haven't I ever seen you around here before?" He asks me after we ordered.

"I just moved here two days ago," I explain.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you come here?"

"Personal reasons."

He nods in understanding. He doesn't ask for more information, I'm grateful.

The waitress reaches our table and sets my coffee and his coffee down. She also sets down my chocolate chip cookie that I ended up ordering. He ordered a cinnamon roll, the white glaze on top smells sugary.

As we're eating, I eye his movements. He doesn't eat his cinnamon roll with his hands, he cuts it up with a fork and knife. I feel the need to eat my cookie with a fork and knife as well, but that would make me look ridiculous.

"You know, you have a really mature face," I lean forward a bit, letting my eyes pierce into his.

He returns back the look, our eyes connecting with each other. My chest quickens again but I don't look away.

"How old are you, anyway?" I ask him, still staring into his eyes.

"Old enough," he lifts his shoulders up and down, breaking apart the eye contact.

He turns his head to the side, his ears are a darker shade than his hair. I try not to giggle.

"You've got some funky hair," I point at it.

"Says the one with yellow hair," he points back.

I grab a strand of hair and stretch it out to him, "This is blonde! Nowhere near yellow!"

"Shouldn't your hair be green, Luigi?" He teases.

"It's Lucy," I mumble with a pout. "And yours is?" I try to trick him.

"Secret."

I think I see him wink.

"What do I have to do for you to tell me?" I bring out the puppy eyes.

I watch his eyes waver for a second. They return just as fast as they came.

"Hmmm," he hums in thought.

"If you meet up with me for the next five days, I _might_ tell you," he puts emphasis on the might.

I clap my hands, "Deal!"

I stick my hand out across the table. He grasps it and shakes it. He holds my hand gently and watches me with careful eyes. I'm the first one to let go, I regret it as soon as I bring my hand back to my lap.

"And," he digs his hand into his pocket, "you _must_ have this with you at all times," he holds up the Fairy Tail key chain connected to his keys for what I'm assuming are for his home. The key looks similar to mine.

I search for my Fairy Tail key chain and sway it from side to side towards him, "I'm way ahead of you."

Our faces mirror each others, cheeks tugged up as high as they can go. I'm addicted to his smile.

He nods his head to the side, I take that as a 'let's go' sign. I scoot over to the edge of the booth and he's already there with his hand stretched out towards me. He pulls me up and walks beside me out of the café.

We stand in front of the café facing each other. He looks over my head, I can tell he's thinking.

"I'd walk you home, but I have to go pick some stuff up. You know your way, right?" We look up at each other.

The pink and orange patterns printed on the sky match with his odd colored hair.

"Yeah, I'll be okay. See you tomorrow," I swing my hand goodbye.

My heart squeezes. Tomorrow I'm going to see him again. I wasn't going to cruise around hoping to bump into him again. I will see him tomorrow.

After we break apart, I return to my apartment. I listen to the leaves shake from the wind. The soft swishing noise calms me. I think of him and only him.

This is what love feels like.


	4. First Time For Everything

**Extremely sorry that this chapter is out late! Exams were such a drag and I had slight writers block..**

**As I was writing, I noticed myself writing Natsu a bit more differently. I realized I have to make him a bit more mature, I'm sure you all know why.**

**I made this chapter super long! It surprises me at how long it is. I even had to do research for this chapter, I didn't know where motion sickness patches go. Then I had to search up star constellations. Thanks, Google for helping me.**

**Did anyone read FT chapter 384? I love Lucy so much.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

I wait for him in the park the next day. I can't help but bob my right leg up and down as I'm sitting down on a wooden bench, engraved with tons of couples anniversaries. This isn't even a date, but just the thought of him makes me fidgety.

He explained to me yesterday to meet him here around late afternoon because he is busy before. I wonder if he has a job after school? The idea of him in a uniform makes me want to laugh.

Couples pass by me, I envy each and every single one of them. I want to be with them, holding my own partner. I want to have someone hold my hand and make fun of me when I trip over my foot. I want to have someone by my side.

I sigh as the couples keep walking by. It feels like they're rubbing it in my face. I feel my patience floating away. Did he forget or did he simply not want to come?

I begin to grab my bag when a sheet of white covers my eyes. I feel the fabric press against my face, it's soft and smells like cologne.

"Guess who," he plays.

"I would if I knew his name," I reply.

"Just four more days," he lifts the scarf off from my eyes I let my neck hang back on the edge of the bench.

He's upside down as I look at him. I notice his scarf is still around his neck. Does that mean his face was most likely extremely close to mine? My heart skips a beat.

"Why do you have that scarf on?" I inspect it with my eyebrows scrunched.

"I have this thing on my neck that I'm sure nobody wants to see."

I lift my head and twist around to face him.

"I'm that nobody then. Let me see," I pat the left side of the bench.

He sighs and sits next to me and faces forward. I turn my torso towards him. I beckon him to take off his scarf.

He looks at me with unsure eyes, "Are you sure?"

I nod eagerly.

He tugs the scarf and slides it off. I see a light jagged scar that's about 2 inches long stretch across his neck. I trail my finger across it without any hesitation. My eyes lock with his.

"Sorry!" I jerk my hand back.

"Gross, huh?" He drapes the scarf around his neck again.

"I've seen worse," I hesitate. "Even though it's not as bad as you think, I think you should just keep the scarf on. It suits you in a way."

"Just like how your yellow hair suits you," he responds.

"Exactly! Wait.. Hey!" I frown.

He laughs. His white canines poke out like knives.

"You know what you should do, Pinky?"

"Pinky? Original," he rolls his eyes with a smile he hasn't smeared off yet.

"Hush it. I think each day that we meet, you should give me a clue for your name," I suggest.

He exaggeratedly rubs his chin in thought making humming noises.

"Sounds good, here's the first clue. My name is not Pinky."

"Progress!" I cheer optimistically.

He boosts himself up from the bench and looks down at me, "You're too much."

I stand up, "I try."

I spend each of my days like this with him. We tease each other constantly. He pays for my food when we eat dinner, although I pay for dessert. He enjoys calling me different names, but I notice he sticks with the name Luce. We share some type of sweet together when we're about to say goodbye. He shakes my hand each time we separate; both of our fingers linger on each others for a second too long. It's our silent little thing.

I take mental notes of all his way of doing things. When he's nervous, he tangles his fingers up in the closest string type object he can find. When he bumps into strangers, he immediately apologizes. He doesn't mess with his hair, which is hard to believe. You will never get bored with him, he always has something to say. As each day passes, the slight hardness to his eyes I used to see vanishes.

He gives me tiny hints for his name. I've only been able to gather up the information: his name is not Pinky. His name doesn't start with the letters A through L. His name somewhat close to a season. Each clue he grants me, I feel more and more keen. I hang on every word he says.

Every moment he spends glancing my way, I can't control my rapidly beating heart. I smile for hours. Love. It makes you want to bear hug the person, yet treat them with care as if they are the most fragile thing in the world. It makes my world shine brighter more than I could ever imagine.

We're sharing an ice cream sundae, half of it vanilla the other half chocolate. We rest on a bench, multiple street lamps floating above us. The sun being long gone. I hold the plastic container with the ice cream with my right hand, he holds the other side with his left hand. His index finger slips on top of mine every so often.

"Are you busy tomorrow night?" He asks while I pop my upside down spoon inside my mouth.

"Probably not," I answer.

"Let's go stargazing."

"Stargazing?"

He nods, "I've always wanted to go."

"Then let's go," I pause when an idea pops up into my head. "I take that back. I'll only go if you promise me you'll tell me your name tomorrow."

He looks like he's trying not to laugh, "Wasn't that the deal, anyway?"

"I was just taking a precaution."

I grab a spoonful of vanilla ice cream and dump it onto his chocolate side.

"My hand slipped," I say as I see him gaping at what I just did.

He scoops a spoonful of chocolate and also pours it on my vanilla side.

"Mine too."

I lean the container downwards, the vanilla ice cream falling down into his chocolate side. I feel a strong force make the container lean downwards on my side. Chocolate and vanilla ice cream slide down to my side being a melted mess.

"Why do you have to be stronger than me?" I whine.

"Because I'm a man," he brags.

I laugh, reminded of Elf-sensei.

He checks his watch. My heart falls into my stomach.

"It's already late. C'mon, let's go," he throws the container into the nearest trash can.

We get back to the part of Magnolia with more people walking through the streets.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Luce," he sticks his hand out at me.

"Goodnight, Pinky," I smirk.

We shake hands and as we let go, our fingers twirl around each other more than the average handshake.

* * *

My bed is slowly transforming into a library. Books and books, some that Pinky recommended for me, are opened around me as I sleep.

I know Magnolia well enough now to not have to explore around anymore. I know where all the stores are and I know which train I am going to board to get to school.

_I have school tomorrow._

Anxiety pushes through my body. The idea of a new school scares me.

I decide to make a quick cake for Mirajane and Lisanna to keep myself occupied. I knock on their door with the cake in my hands.

"Lucy!" Lisanna almost lunges into my arms until she sees the cake.

"Hey, Lisanna. I felt the need to make you and your sister a cake," I nudge it towards her.

"You shouldn't have. Come inside!" She gestures me in.

I follow Lisanna to the kitchen, Mirajane running at me.

"Lucy, where have you been?" She takes the cake in her hands. I sit at their table.

"I've been around. Just getting to know Magnolia more," I tell them.

"Have you met someone?" Lisanna leans towards me, reviewing my face.

I tilt my head, "Why?"

"You look.."

"Happy," Mirajane finishes the sentence.

My eyes widen. How could my happiness be that _easy _to see?

"I might have," I say, trying not to show my embarrassment.

"Who?! Does he go to our school?" Lisanna pounces onto me.

"I think so. He mentioned going there."

"If he breaks your heart, I'm going to kill him," she declares.

I hear Mirajane cracking her knuckles in agreement.

"We're just friends!" I shake my hands in the air.

"Are you going to meet him today?" Mirajane asks.

"Stargazing," I mutter.

"That is so a date!" Lisanna screams and holds my shoulders. "Don't kiss too much, alright?"

I feel my face get hot as the sun and I feel light-headed. I couldn't possibly do those things with him, right?

I talk to the sisters the rest of the day, catching up with them. It's beginning to be sunset once I leave their apartment. I enter mine and start getting dressed. I try not to run to our meeting spot, my whole body feels like jelly. This is _not_ a date. It's simply two friends enjoying each other's company. And laying down together. Under stars. In the dark.

_I'm going to hyperventilate._

To my surprise, he's already at our meeting spot. I see him nonchalantly swipe his hands across his jeans. Is he nervous too?

"Somebody is early," I lightly elbow him.

"I finished what I had to do early," he shrugs. "So, to get to the place we have to ride the train."

"Don't you have motion sickness?" I ask.

He lifts up a strand pink hair above his ear. Right behind his ear is a little circle patch. I can't hold in my laughter.

"Motion sickness isn't funny," he pokes my forehead as he walks past me to get to the train station.

I speed walk to catch up to him, "Don't forget to tell me your name, Pinky."

"And if I don't?" He challenges.

I stop walking with him and stare at him with my eyebrows raised.

"Well played," he pants after trying to tug me towards him. I can have my strong moments, too.

I feel my wrist burning with a buzz of electricity where his hand was just wrapped around.

The clacks of trains get louder and louder. I squint my eyes as the sun slowly falls down the sky in front of us.

"Come here," I grasp his arm trying not to blush. I position him in front of me so he blocks the sun from my view. I smile at him with my eyes no longer squinted.

"You look really-"

The train arrives and the doors slide open, interrupting what he was about to say. We step inside and I'm instantly pushed into his back. He swiftly turns around towards me so my forehead is pressed into his chest. He smells like soap. I can sense the redness on my face.

"Thanks," I say with my head down. I can't show my face looking like this.

"Who knew there would be so many people?" I hear him say above me.

His lean arm wraps around my waist and pulls me closer to him. I pick up him apologizing to someone. He releases me.

"Sorry, fat man was trying to make his way through."

I try not to laugh, "Don't say that in public!"

His chest vibrates as he chuckles.

The train stops a few times to drop passengers off. I'm able to back away from him now.

"Feeling dizzy yet?"

He sticks his tongue out at me as a response.

We begin to brake at another stop, he grabs my wrist and pulls me. As soon as the door opens, he starts running. I rush with him, mouth dropped in surprised.

I have no idea where we are running, but just us together with the wind flying past us, my face breaks out into a smile with joy.

"It's been a while since I've done that!" He gasps for air as we arrive to a park.

"Why," I breathe in, "would you," I breathe out, "do this to me?" I bend my head down and put my hands on my legs.

"I just thought we needed workouts."

I sigh heavily. For once this racing heart was not because of him.

"Where are we going to sit?" I scan the area.

"Follow me," he grabs my wrist once again and leads me up to a secluded grassy hill. We reach the top of the hill, it seems like we're the only people here. One single street light flickers at the bottom of the hill.

"Are we supposed to lay down?" I glance up at the sky, already half of it turning a dark blue the other half being a faded pink.

"And hold hands."

I turn to him with an incredulous look. Is he kidding or is he making my wish come true?

"Stargazing is cliché. Let's just make it even more cliché. C'mon! I promise I washed my hands today," he holds up his hand and waves it in front of me.

"Okay."

His fingers faintly touch my left hand and he entwines his fingers with mine. The callouses on his palms press into my palm. The tips of his fingers press into the back of my hand, I carefully let myself do the same. His knuckles are rough.

My face lights up in a blush. My heart is throbbing inside my throat. I place my bag down beside me and lay down on the grass. I examine the dark sky. There's a slight twinkle.

"First star," we say.

I tilt my head towards him, he's wearing his signature smile that always makes my heart skim a beat. He turns his head back to the sky, I keep watching him.

"We always say the same things. It's weird," I watch his lips as he speaks.

I yank my eyes back to the sky and continue searching for more stars.

"Great minds think alike," I squeeze his hand gently. He squeezes back.

I tightly press my lips together; if I open my mouth just the slightest, a nervous laugh will most definitely escape my lips.

It's silent as we watch each star individually display themselves. The sound of crickets is the only noise. The short grass tickles my arms. It's utterly calming.

The second I blink the whole sky is filled with glittering stars. Each star has its own way of twinkling, some brighter than others.

"Stunning," I hear him say breathlessly.

Butterflies pop into my stomach. I've heard this voice only once; he was describing the perfect winter day. I've yearned to hear it again ever since. I adore his passionate voice.

"Have you ever heard of the constellation named Phoenix?" He asks.

I shake my head.

"It's this one," he points up to the sky.

I lean my head closer to his bit by bit so I can see the constellation from his perspective. I can hear him breathing.

I follow the imaginary line from his finger to the stars. I see a shape, it's a rectangle with one line coming out on one side and another one on the other side. It resembles a bird.

"It's a mythological bird," he explains. "It would be consumed by fire and then emerge from the flames reborn. Pretty cool, right?" He turns his head to me.

"Amazing," I say. I face him.

Our noses bump into each other.

I quickly pull back. My heart fluttering like a hummingbird's wings.

I look into his eyes. I see nothing except the stars reflecting upon them. It seems as if the sky placed itself inside his eyes.

"I think it's time," I sit up from the grass and search inside my bag with my right hand. My left hand is still attached to his.

I swirl the Fairy Tail key chain around my finger wiggling my eyebrows.

"I forgot mine," he says.

My jaw falls. I inhale a deep breath to scream until he holds up his Fairy Tail key chain.

"So gullible," he laughs as he sees my angry expression.

I release our connected hands and stretch my hand towards him.

"Hello, my name is Lucy."

He shakes my hand, "Hello, Lucy. My name is Natsu."

A gigantic smile spreads across my face, "Hello, Natsu. Nice to meet you."

_Have I heard that name before?_

"Ah, that's right. Natsu means summer," I realize.

"Not even close to Pinky," he adds.

I giggle, "It was worth a shot."

He stands back up from the grass and brushes his pants. He sticks his hand out towards me. I hold onto it as he pulls me up. He doesn't let go.

"Thank you for joining me," he says with a touch of shyness.

"We should come again! Once a year or something," I propose.

"What day?" He asks. We walk slowly through the darkness. The moon is the only thing lighting our path.

"I say we should come every year on this day."

"I can't wait for next year," he admits.

I flush, "Me too."

He glances at his watch and quickly looks down at me.

"Get ready to run, Luce."

Before I have any chance to reply, I'm being tugged away by Natsu. We get to the train station panting for air again.

"You're going to kill me," I huff.

A voice comes on the intercom announcing the last train for the night is going to be here shortly.

"If we didn't run we would have missed the train," Natsu sighs.

Luckily, the train is empty. We sit down on one of the seats, still hand in hand. My legs feel sore from the sprint.

"Hey, Natsu."

"You saying my name is weird," he says with a bewildered look. "What?"

"I'm tired," my head falls onto his shoulder.

He doesn't say anything. I feel a poke on my shoulder.

"It's time to get off, Luce," Natsu tells me.

"Did I fall asleep?!" I shriek when we get off the train.

"You have a heavy head," he excessively rubs his shoulder.

We are still holding hands.

"That's your punishment for making me run so much," I pout.

"Yeah, yeah," he says. I see a slight smile on his lips.

"Let me take you home now. I have school tomorrow," he starts walking.

This is the first time Natsu is taking me home. I feel nervous, excited, and happy all at once.

We walk side by side and then it hits me.

"When are we going to see each other again?" I feel like I just broke the ice.

"I have this feeling it's going to be soon."

"You better be right," I try to be menacing. "Do you know where I live?"

"Sort of. I know where you walk back to," he replies.

"We're getting close," I'm the one leading this time.

I see my apartment pop into view. Nervousness floods through me as well sadness because it's time to say goodbye. There is no guarantee that I'm going to be seeing him again. School is my only hope.

We get to the building and I stop at the stairs.

"You live here?" He raises his eyebrows in shock.

I point to my apartment door, "Yeah, why?"

"I live..." he coughs, "around here."

"Really? Then we'll definitely see each other soon!" I say happily.

"Yeah," he smiles.

I let go of his hand. Why is it that he never lets go first?

I go up a few stairs and look down from the railing, "Goodnight, Natsu."

"Goodnight, Luce," he waves.

I trek up the stairs, I can't take this silly smile off my face. I unlock my apartment door and walk inside.

I dive into bed after brushing my teeth. I clutch my blanket and pull it over my face. I let out a scream. I poke my head out of the sheet.

_This is my first love._

"I love Natsu," I say to my ceiling. "And sleep."

Tomorrow my life at Magnolia High will begin.

* * *

My obnoxious alarm clock noisily chimes for the fifth time. So damn annoying.

I furrow my eyebrows and open my eyes to get ready to destroy the clock. Before I attack, I look at the time. I'm 25 minutes late for school.

"Holy.."

I leap up from my bed and dash to the bathroom and hurriedly get ready. I brush my teeth while putting on my school uniform. I comb my hair while toasting bread. The once pale bread is now a black piece of nothing. I bite into it cautiously and my whole body refuses the whole thing, I spit it into the sink.

I settle for the orange juice. I hastily pour it into a glass cup and chug it. It has way too much pulp for the average orange juice.

With a puckered up face with all the pulp that begs to leave my mouth, I slip my brown loafers on. I head for my apartment door, grabbing the blue bag provided by the school on the way. I slam the door shut while fixing my crooked plain blue tie that is tucked into my yellow vest. As I'm sprinting down the stairs I straighten my gray skirt.

I dart to the train station, I don't stop running until I'm inside the train. I try to catch up with my breaths. I see there are other passengers on the bus with the same uniform that I'm wearing so I follow them as we get off the train. Magnolia High's gates comes to my view.

I walk through the gates and everyone around me talks with their own friends. It makes me feel giddy thinking that I'm going to be in those groups soon. Hopefully.

I keep an eye out for any pink heads as I walk to the main office to receive my schedule and my first class; I see none. The door for my first class is open, I hear voices. Anxiety is the only emotion I'm feeling.

I grip onto the bag's strap tightly and slowly walk in to observe my new classmates, each being completely diverse from one another. Half of the students are asleep, the other half of students speak with each other. I see a girl with blue hair in the corner of the class reading a book. Is she like me?

"Move," a raspy voice commands behind me.

I turn around and have to force my mouth to stay shut. I have never seen so many piercings on one's face like him. He has at least three piercings on each ear, three on each eyebrow, three on either side of his nose, and two on his chin.

I press myself back into the wall and let him enter. He walks past me and goes straight to the small girl in the corner. I prepare myself to listen to her screams and oh, she does. I study her face and notice it is not out of horror, she's happy. Are they together? They're complete opposites.

A short bell rings four times. All the seats are taken except for the one right next to the teacher's desk. I try not to sigh as I sit down.

"Good morning, class!" I recognize the voice.

Lisanna strides into the classroom with a smile on her face. Her eyes meet mine.

"Well, hello there, new student! What is your name?" She grins at me.

Everybody turns to stare at me. I look back at everyone.

"Lucy," I say.

"Welcome to Magnolia High, Lucy. I'm Lisanna-sensei, your math teacher."

I can tell she's rehearsed saying this ten times.

I silently nod.

I look at Lisanna speak and try my best to listen. I just want to go to English, my favorite class, already. What is the teacher's name again?

I search my schedule to see which period I have English. It's my last class of the day, joy.

I fly by each class; I have Elf-sensei and Gray-sensei and a few random teachers whose names have already slipped my mind. I see Mirajane in the hallway as I'm switching classes. She gives me a thumbs up of encouragement.

I notice in all of my classes, the petite blue haired girl is there as well. We have some classes together with the piercings boy. Her bored face always lights up when she sees him. It's a match I would never expect.

It's finally time to go to my last class. I search for the classroom with excitement. I haven't seen Natsu all day, maybe we'll have this class together?

I find the classroom and go in. Of course in the corner sits the girl with blue hair. No pink heads.

I slump down into an empty seat and push my forehead onto the desk with my eyes closed. Why couldn't I just have one class with him? Or go to the same school with him? Why?

The bell dings and I hear everyone get into their seats and wait for the teacher to come. I don't open my eyes or lift my head up as I hear the door close.

"Good afternoon, class," a familiar voice says.

My eyes shoot open at the voice. I raise my head and I feel myself begin to shake.

"Natsu?"


	5. Confusion

**School will be the death of me. ;u; Why didn't anybody tell me once finals are over school piles you up with tons of homework and essays? **

**I apologize that this chapter isn't the greatest. I just had a lot of trouble with it for some reason. **

**Well, anyway, enjoy chapter 5.**

* * *

I can't believe what I'm seeing. Natsu, the person I love, is a teacher? Not only that, but for my favorite class? Just _yesterday_ him and I were viewing stars together and holding hands. How can he possibly be my teacher?

Our eyes connect with each other after I whispered his name out loud. He looks at me briefly and I see something flicker inside his eyes. I feel light-headed.

"Oh, hello, new student. What is your name?"

"Lucy Heartfilia," I squeak.

"Call me Natsu; you don't have to add the sensei at the end. Welcome to Magnolia High," he smiles although it looks distant.

"Thank you," my voice trembles.

Why isn't he as fazed to this as I am?

He begins his lesson but I can't concentrate. I watch him as he writes on the board. He wears a light blue button up shirt tucked in gray slacks. He still wears his scarf. His clothes always go well with his scarf.

I look at his hand that holds the marker. Did I really hold that hand yesterday?

My eyes wander to his desk. I see the Fairy Tail key chain hanging off the edge of it. My head pounds each second.

Before I know it, it's almost time for the bell to ring signaling that school is over.

"Lucy, can you please stay after class?" Natsu says to me.

Everyone's head pivots towards me. I glance back at everyone. I look at Natsu.

"Sure."

Everyone files out of the room as the bell jingles loudly. The bluenette looks back at me with curiosity as she leaves. I stand up from my desk when everyone is gone.

He leans against the board with his arms crossed. I go up to him. I leave a good 10 feet separation between us. I firmly grab onto the strap of my bag for the millionth time today.

I can physically see the curtain that he has during class sway open. He's back to the Natsu I know.

"You're a-"

"Student," Natsu breathes out.

I gaze into his hazel eyes. All this feels surreal.

"How old are you?" I ask shakily.

"24."

"A 17 year old holding hands with a 24 year old? Unbelievable," I laugh dryly.

Natsu's eyes widen and shift to the opened door, "Don't say that here."

"Are teachers and students allowed to.." I can't finish the sentence.

"No," he says bluntly.

"What happens if they get caught?"

"The student gets expelled and the teacher gets fired."

"Oh," this is the only thing I can say.

Natsu sighs and twirls the loose strands of string on his scarf. He's nervous.

"Can we forget everything that happened between us?"

My heart shatters.

"It's for the best," I don't recognize my voice.

He extends his hand towards me. I peer at it like a foreign object.

"I hope you enjoy my class, Lucy."

I expected him to call me Luce, my heart aches that he doesn't.

"This is the part where you shake my hand," he jokes.

I lift up my hand, it's uncontrollably shaking. I rigidly grip his hand and shake it. I let it go quickly.

"Have a nice day, Natsu," I don't wait for his reply.

I exit the classroom with a huge lump in my throat. I search for the place that will always comfort me; the library. I push open the doors and I'm greeted with books. The dryness in my throat lessens.

The library has a few tables that have people doing their homework. In the back are where the books are. It also doesn't have lights on, the library glimmers from the sun. It reminds me of the music and book store that I met Natsu in. I deeply breathe in.

_Forget everything that happened between us._

I pace around the shelves with books. I walk through the aisles in a zig-zag motion. I get to the last names that start with the letter O and start searching for my favorite author. I finally see my favorite book and reach for it. My hand clashes into another. I turn my head to the owner of the hand. It's the bluenette.

"Oh, here," I pull out the book and hand it to her.

"No, it's okay you can have it," her voice sounds like a child's.

I push it back to her, "It's okay! I've already read it, actually."

"Me too! Three times," her yellow tinted eyes light up.

"Five times for me," I smile at her.

"What's your favorite part?" She asks excitedly.

"Honestly, the ending," I brace myself for her to be shocked.

"I thought I was the only one!"

We high-five each other, forgetting we're in a library. We cover our mouths when people hush us.

"What's your name?" I ask her while trying not to laugh too loud.

"Levy. I know your name since we have the same classes."

"It's nice to meet you, Levy," I say with a smile I have yet to take off.

"Nice to meet you too, Lucy," she returns the smile.

I can see something switch on inside her mind.

"Why did Natsu want you after class? He rarely does that. Were you in trouble?" She inquires.

My heart that was gradually patching itself up falls apart once again.

"He just wanted to tell me what to expect in his class," I shrug it off.

She scrunches her eyebrows, "He does the weirdest things."

I see her look behind me and her smile widens.

I turn around to see what it is and I feel goosebumps rise onto my skin.

"Hey, Shrimp, who's this Blondie?" The iron boy nods his head at me. I look at him and I see that his eyes are _red._

"Her name is Lucy. Didn't you hear her introduce herself in class?" Levy replies.

"Why should I?" He asks menacingly.

"What's your name?" I try not to let the fear show in my voice.

"Gajeel."

He moves his attention to Levy, "I'm going now, so see you later."

"I'll text you!" She calls out to him. He raises his hand above him and waves as he walks out.

"He's as scary as Elf-sensei," the goosebumps still remain on my skin.

"He's a sweetheart on the inside," Levy babbles.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

I can feel the heat rising to Levy's face from where I'm standing.

"No no! I couldn't ever be his girlfriend, I'm way too short. And he's nothing like me. He makes fun of me too much and we don't ever get along. So what if he makes me happy? So what if every time he wants me to read to him I feel my heart stop? Who cares?!" Levy spits out.

I can't help but giggle at her.

Levy glances at the clock behind me in the front of the library.

"Ah, I have to go, too."

"You better go now or else Gajeel will leave you behind," I tease.

A brighter blush returns to her face.

"If you want to read somewhere even quieter and relaxing than the library, there's this place upstairs that nobody goes to. It's near Natsu's room," Levy recommends.

"Okay, thanks, I'll go check it out," I smile at her.

"Oh, yeah! Let's exchange phone numbers," she waves her phone in front of my face.

After swapping phone numbers Levy waves at me and hurriedly exits the library, enthusiastic to walk home with Gajeel.

I roam around the library just one more time, noticing how deserted the back of the library is, and go to the place Levy advised me to go to. I see a door and my gut tells me it's where the stairs are. I creak open the door and find two cases of stairs. Like the library, the only light is solely from the window. I check off the 'Come here at night' suggestion in my head. I would absolutely trip on the first stair. I step up the stairs and open the door.

This place that nobody goes to is the school's roof. The blazing mid-afternoon sun sits up on the sky. The edges of the roof have tall chain link fences so nobody falls off. I look up where I'm standing and see that on top of the door is a concrete platform. I go to the right, there is a ladder to where you can stand practically on top of the door. I just found my new reading spot.

I hike up the few ladder rungs and push myself onto the square platform. If I stand and look straight ahead, I can see almost all of Magnolia over the fence. I can see the train station, parks, other schools. I can see everyone yet nobody can see me.

I lay on my stomach, the tips of my toes hanging off the edge. I turn over on my back and the sharp blue sky makes me squint. The outlook here is stunning. Gazing over stars must be quite the view. Natsu pops into my mind.

I place my forearm onto my eyes.

"Forget it," I mumble.

I sit up and look at the concrete. I see little characters engraved into the corner of the platform. I examine it closer and realize they're words. I try to make out what it says, it's faded over the years.

"It's okay to be sad," I slowly read the words aloud.

I have the biggest urge to laugh. I feel my lips pull up into a smile but there is no sound. I feel my face getting wet.

"What?" I say as the tears drip one by one.

I drag my knees to my face and let my head fall into them. I weep for the first time since Mom passed. My back falls up in down in short breaths. I lift my head, my nose a runny mess.

Many hiccups later, the heaviness around my chest lightens up. The wind breezes past me; my hair flies with it.

Am I really supposed to forget him?


	6. Endurance

**I have two weeks of school left and then I can say I have finished my first year of high school! I'm so happy. **

**Now, I _love _Juvia but I just _had_ to make her seem drunk in love, okay? **

**Please enjoy and review! ~**

* * *

It's sunset by the time that I come back home from school. As much as I hate crying because of the weak feeling afterwards, I feel better letting my emotions show. The bottle holding my emotions was bound to pop open, anyway.

I pull myself up the stairs and Mirajane and Lisanna are in the middle of unlocking their door. They hear my footsteps and turn their heads at me simultaneously.

"How was your first day of school?!" Mirajane bends her knees and views me with excitement.

"Did you meet the boy?" Lisanna asks with anticipation.

"I didn't," I lie.

Lisanna frowns, "What school could he go to then?"

I shrug my shoulders and turn to my apartment door. I pluck out my jingling keys from my bag.

"I've seen that key chain before!" Lisanna points to the Fairy Tail key chain. "Mira-nee, doesn't Natsu have a similar one? Except his is a lighter shade of red."

"That's right!" Mirajane recalls. "Didn't he say that he wouldn't trade the key chain for anything in the world?"

"And he doesn't want people to touch it. He's so stubborn," the sisters laugh together.

My chest feels like it's on fire.

"You have Natsu for English, right?" Lisanna asks.

I nod.

"You kind of remind me of him," Mirajane points out.

I don't want to be talking about this topic yet I can't make myself walk into my apartment.

"How so?" I try not to ask too eagerly.

"You act the same way," she doesn't say anything else.

What else was she going to say, anyway? A long speech about how him and I are made for each other? If we are the same age we'd make a perfect couple? I feel dissatisfied.

"That's funny," I say.

We look at each other in silence.

"Well, surprisingly, I have homework," I lie once again.

"Oh, okay! Have fun at school tomorrow," Lisanna says as she waves goodbye.

I give them a smile and step into my apartment. I push the door behind me and walk straight to my bed. I kick off my shoes as I slide into my bed, still in my uniform, and cover myself with the sheets.

"I wish I remembered his name so I knew he was a teacher," I say to myself.

I spend the rest of the evening in bed trying to figure out how to mend this torn up heart.

* * *

The train is crowded as I get in. For once could all these people spread out?

The doors slide shut and everybody shuffles closer together; I feel a pressure behind my back. It feels like a chest. I slightly turn around and see a guy with bright orange hair with spikes jutting in every direction. Glasses sit on his face, they suit him.

"Sorry," he smiles, his teeth shining with the sunrise.

He's wearing the same uniform as me, although his uniform is a white shirt with paired with a tie and gray slacks.

"You're wearing the same uniform as me. What's your name?" He asks.

"Lucy," I reply as I scoot back a little so I can face him.

"I'm Loke."

We watch each other in silence.

"You're beautiful," he blurts out.

"W-what?"

"Do you want to go out?" He leans closer to me, his dark eyes getting bigger and bigger each second.

I lose my footing as the train stops to drop off other riders. He catches me roughly, completely different from how Natsu touched me. I jerk away.

"What do you say? I'm hot, you're hot, it works out. We'd be the most popular couple at school," his voice is lathered with persuasion.

"I don't want to be in a relationship right now," I say as I put a jump into my step to get off the train.

His limp fingers grasp onto my wrist, "I'll make you fall in love with me!"

"Good luck," I tread past him when he releases his grip.

I'm, thankfully, not as jittery as I was yesterday. I enter class with confidence. Levy waves me over from the back of the classroom to sit next to her. I lay my bag down and plop into the chair.

"Good morning!" Levy shouts.

"How can you say that so happily at this time?" I give her an incredulous look.

Levy shrugs with a huge smile plastered across her face.

"Something happened yesterday, didn't it?" I can't help but feel excited.

"Possibly," she winks at me.

Just as I'm about to ask for more, a deep voice booms behind me.

"Is Blondie your friend now?" Gajeel's crimson eyes slice into mine.

"Your friend too," Levy tells him.

He grunts as he sits in front of Levy, twisting around so he's sitting in the chair backwards. He hangs his head down and I can already hear him snoring. Can a human really fall asleep that fast?

Another voice fills my ears. I look at the owner of the voice; her long hair — waving down to her lower back — is a darker shade than Levy's, being a royal blue. It's hairstyled in two matching ponytails.

"Good morning, Levy. I'm back from being sick," her voice is small like a mouse.

"Good morning, Wendy!" She screams with the same enthusiasm she used with me earlier. Gajeel opens an eye at her and squints.

Her innocent eyes turn to me, "Who is this?"

"I'm Lucy."

"I'm Wendy," she smiles shyly.

"How old are you?" The questions leaves my lips before I can stop it.

"I'm 14. I skipped a few grades," she explains.

"A few?!" Gajeel roars.

"Gajeel!" Levy scolds.

I feel like I just experienced a never seen moment. Gajeel looks _scared_ of Levy. His eyes widen and he bends his neck back down. I bring my hand on top of my mouth trying not to laugh.

"It's okay," Wendy says, her dainty face unfazed by Gajeel's intimidating aura.

The bell rings and Lisanna strolls in. Her smile widens when she looks at who I'm sitting next to.

"Good morning, class," Lisanna greets.

Just when Lisanna brings up math, Gajeel's body goes limp and he starts breathing heavily. Levy writes notes in two notebooks; I'm assuming one of them is for Gajeel. Once Lisanna is finished teaching, Gajeel's body comes to life and he thanks Levy for the notes. It's amusing.

Levy and I go off to our second class and Gajeel disappears into the crowd. We have to go outside for this class, gym is such a joy.

"Today we run like men!" Elf-sensei howls.

Levy and I jog together although we walk when Elf-sensei isn't looking. When we start walking again somebody bumps against me.

"Watch out," the person says, she has a straw from a juice box hanging out of her mouth.

"Sorry," I walk to the other side of Levy.

"Cana, you don't have to be so mean," Levy whines.

Her dark purple eyes widen, "I was just telling her to watch out! Whatever."

She runs past us with the juice box somehow still connected to the straw in her mouth.

"How can she talk with her juice in her mouth?" I ask.

"Cana, can't live without her juice," Levy leans into me and whispers. "It's _special_ juice."

"_Special_?" I whisper back.

Levy nods quickly. She looks behind me and her mouth drops open and she returns back to her jogging. I jog again, hoping Elf-sensei didn't see us.

After hearing the word 'men' another eighteen times it's time for us to go to our next class. It's a blur and before I know it, it's time for lunch.

I sit at a round table in between Levy and Wendy. Gajeel plops next to Levy. Surprisingly, Cana is there as well. There are two unknown people at the table.

"Lucy, this is Juvia and Romeo," Levy points at the unknown people.

I smile a greeting at them. Romeo looks just as young as Wendy.

"Did you skip a few grades as well, Romeo?" I ask.

"Yeah," he scratches the back of his neck in embarrassment.

We munch on our food and I hear Juvia squeal.

"Gray-sensei looks perfect to Juvia," Juvia says.

I twist around to see Gray-sensei walking to get his food, alongside him is the person who I didn't want to see until the end of the day. Natsu strides next to Gray-sensei.

"Do you like Gray-sensei?" I ask Juvia.

"Juvia loves Gray-sensei. Does Lucy like him, too?" I can hear the hint of jealousy in her voice.

"I don't, don't worry," I assure her.

I finish my not so good turkey sandwich, I leave the group to go to the restroom to wash my hands. I count the number of black tiles as I walk. I enter the restroom and wash my hands, I dry them on the automatic dryer and step out. Deciding to get water, I go up to the water fountain. Someone gets there the same time as me. It's a guy.

He puts his hand out as a 'ladies first' gesture.

"Thanks," I say as I sip the water. Once I'm done drinking, I look up at his blue eyes. Above his right eye is a diagonal scar. He has the same color hair as me; blonde. His hair spikes up.

"I'm Sting," he introduces.

"Lucy," I say as I notice someone coming out of the boy's side of the restroom.

He has black messy hair that covers half of his face. His eyes are slanted, they remind me of a snake. The color of his eyes, well his left eye, also reminds me of a certain someone. His maroon eyes examine the both of us. I'm grateful that his eyes aren't as terrorizing as Gajeel's.

"That's my brother, Rogue," he nods his head to his direction.

"You don't look alike," I state.

Sting smiles with two pointy canines, "We know."

I open my mouth to respond until I see pink hair coming from behind Sting.

"I have to go now," I hurriedly walk away, ignoring Sting's shouts to come back.

"Lucy, why are you breathing heavily?" Wendy asks me with concern as I sit back down at the table.

"I saw a bee," I make up an excuse.

"Wimp," Gajeel mutters.

I glare at him.

We're dismissed to go to our next class. Ceramics.

Levy, Juvia, and I walk to the class together. I'm slightly keen to see how Juvia is going to react to Gray-sensei.

Not even seconds after entering, Juvia can't stop pushing her hands against her cheeks. It's impossible to not notice the love.

We sit at our stations, each chair having everything you need to make the things you need. Gray-sensei marches into the classroom.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Today we're going to make miniature bowls," he holds up an example bowl.

Juvia is almost drooling at Gray's biceps.

We get the clay ready and begin molding it into a bowl shape. Although mine is quite lumpy I can't complain. Levy's looks like mine. I glance at Juvia's and hers is a complete mess.

I'm about to help her out when she raises her hand. Gray-sensei comes to her.

"Gray-sensei, I need help," she says in a cute voice.

"I'll get the basic shape for you," he says and starts flattening the clay to start over.

Juvia's bright pink cheeks get darker and darker the more she watches his hands. He's oblivious to it.

Gray-sensei starts the shape of the bowl and nods and goes off to the next person that needs help.

"He's so dreamy," Juvia gushes.

Levy and I look at each other and we burst out laughing.

"Oh, young love," we say ironically.

Juvia pouts at us then directs her attention to Gray-sensei's backside.

It's finally our last class for the day and I feel light-headed. Levy stayed behind our last class to be with Gajeel. I walk into English alone.

In each of my classes, the students get to the classroom first and the teacher is the last one to get there. When class finishes, the students leave and the teacher leaves as well to go get supplies for their class and such. Then the cycle repeats.

I was expecting that but Natsu is sitting on his chair with his feet perched up on his desk. Our eyes lock with each other and I instantly tear my eyes away. I sit in the back next to an empty desk where Levy is going to sit. I quickly glance at Natsu, he's still watching me. I feel my cheeks heat up.

Levy sits down next to me and starts babbling about Gajeel. She stares at me when I don't respond.

"Hello?" She taps her pencil onto my desk.

"Oh, sorry!" I apologize when she pulls me out of my trance.

The bell rings and Natsu heaves himself up from his desk.

"We're going to be writing short stories today," he tells us. "It can be about anything you want, but you have to describe the setting. Describe the weather, the day, how the trees look, or how much blood has been shed. It doesn't matter, just describe it. Don't forget a title."

Levy quietly cheers and excitedly pulls out her notebook to begin writing. I mirror her movements, I know just what I'm about to write.

I write as fast as my hand can move. The words are imprinted in my mind, I don't have to think about what I'm writing. When I'm finished, I almost throw my pencil onto my desk. My wrist burns from the writing.

As if that is his cue he orders, "Everybody pass up their papers now."

There are multiple groans as the papers are being passed up. I turn to Levy.

"Did you finish?" We ask at the same time.

We nod together and high five each other.

"I'm going to read a few of these," he starts shuffling the papers as if they were cards.

He reads stories with odd titles like 'Fat Animals' and bizarre stories about zebras in the animal kingdom, each story ends with the class chuckling at how bad they are.

Natsu comes to a paper that makes him scrunch his eyebrows. His eyes search around his classroom and land on me. The hairs on my arm involuntarily stand up. He focuses back on the paper.

"The Perfect Winter Day," he begins.

He reads my story differently than the others. He reads each word aloud carefully.

I wrote exactly what he said to me in the café that one day. I do not say any names in the story, only the pronoun, 'he.' I describe what he looked like to me that day. The way his eyes shined and the way his voice sounded like silk. I know I am the only one who realizes this; when he gets to the dialogue he is not reading the words on the paper. He is simply saying what he told me.

I can hear the voice I love so much floating around. It's not entirely there but it's barely making itself shown. He finishes my story and there is no sound.

"That was really good," people around the class whisper.

"I wonder whose that was," Levy whispers to me.

I shrug to her and look back at Natsu. He looks back at me and my heart skips a beat.

Natsu is just about to say his thoughts and the bell rings. Everybody stands up and withdraws out class. I look over my shoulder at Natsu as I'm leaving and it seems as if he never took his eyes off of me in the first place. I turn around and go back to listening to Levy.

"I have to help Gajeel with his homework today, so I'll see you tomorrow!" Levy says.

"Okay! Later," I wave at her as she leaves to go to the front gates.

I cruise towards the library and go to the section of books that caught my attention yesterday. I pick out one of the books and check it out. I go to the school's rooftop and hike up the ladder and sprawl across the platform on my stomach. I begin the book, enjoying the sunlight. I turn over onto my back and read and read. When I feel the urge to go back to my stomach, I hear the door below me open.

I peek over the edge of the platform and my breath gets caught in my throat.

The little noise that I made makes him turn around and look up at the platform I'm on.

"Hey, Luce."


	7. Happy Feelings

**Was updating a chapter this quickly a good idea? Probably not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯**

**Thank you all SOSOSOSOOOO much for reviewing, faving, and following this story. I love waking up to reading all the reviews you have all posted. It makes my day better. **

**And thank you all for reading! It makes me just as happy to know there are people reading this. **

**I can't thank you all enough. c:**

* * *

I dubiously close my book and set it beside me.

"Hey, Natsu," I say plainly.

I prop myself up onto my elbows and stare down into his eyes that I fall for each time. The breeze makes his scarf sway with his hair. How can I possibly forget everything that happened when he looks like this? I don't want to remind him about it so I don't bring it up.

He tilts his head back up at me and it seems like he has something to say.

"How did you write the story?" He finally asks.

"Memory."

His mouth drops a little, "You remembered everything I said that day?"

I look above the fences and nod my head. I can't look him in the eye.

"You should have put, 'Written by Natsu Dragneel' at the end," he jokes.

_Dragneel? What a nice last name._

"I'll do that next time," I tell him.

We stare at each other with wide eyes. We're both thinking the same thing; will there even be a next time?

"Yes," he says, as if he's answering our thoughts. I feel myself getting happier than I should be. I don't want our conversation to end here.

"You should come up here," I suggest. "The view is great."

He glances at the platform I'm on with doubtful eyes but reluctantly goes up the ladder to come up. I stand up to leave room for him but I can feel his arm right next to mine. We view Magnolia in silence.

"I feel like I can see everything," he breathes out.

"That's what I thought, too," I agree.

I hang my head down and look at my shoes beside Natsu's. I catch a glimpse of him out of my peripheral vision; he's smiling.

"Why are you smiling?" He looks down at me.

"Why are _you_ smiling?" I retort.

"Because you're interesting," he replies.

I can't stop the blush from rising to my face.

"You, too," I mutter.

"You should probably go home now," he says, his inner adult poking out of him.

"Okay, Natsu-_sensei,_" I step down the ladders first and wait for him to come down. I try not to eye his biceps for too long. He jumps off the last rung and twists around to me.

"Don't call me that," he says with an annoyed tone.

"Why don't you like having the sensei at the end?" I've wanted to ask him this for a while now.

"I don't think the sensei at the end will make a difference in the respect I get," he shrugs.

Just as I'm about to respond I hear the door creaking open. Natsu's reflexes kick in and he pulls me to the other side of the door; pressing me against him. My left cheek softly lays against his scarf. As I'm breathing, I can smell the soapy scent swirling around him. I listen to his heartbeat and realize it's beating just as rapid as mine is.

"I swear I heard voices up here," somebody says.

"Teachers are the only ones allowed here, anyway," another voice responds. "And there's nobody here."

I turn my head and put the right side of my face onto Natsu's chest and glance down. You can see our shadows on the ground. I can see my hair waving around and I can see Natsu's spikes. In the middle is a huge blob where Natsu's body and mine touch each others. It makes me want to laugh of happiness. I bring my hand up over my mouth and force myself to not make a noise. Natsu notices my struggles and plants his hand on top of mine with his wide hazel eyes, he shakes his head to not do it.

"Did you hear that?" The first person who spoke asks.

"You're hearing things again," the other person complains.

"I'm not!" The voice gets louder, I can hear him stepping towards us.

Natsu tightens his grip around me so much that I have to stand on the tips of my toes. I shut my eyes in fear.

"There's nobody there. Now come on, I'm hungry," the other person urges.

"Oh, yeah, I have leftover spaghetti!" The first person cries happily, his voice gradually getting more farther away.

"Of course you do," the other person says.

We hear the door slam shut. Natsu releases his grip and we sigh in relief.

"That was so scary!" I put my hand on my chest and breathe out.

"I felt like a ninja," Natsu says with an amused look.

"If that's what it feels like to be a ninja, being a princess stuck inside a castle with a dragon sounds better," I'm still breathless.

"You should write a story on that," he recommends.

"Maybe I will!" I declare.

"Go home now, Luce," he nods his head towards the door.

"Right. See you tomorrow, Natsu," I feel sadness creeping inside me.

Just as I'm reaching towards the doorknob Natsu calls out to me.

"Come up here tomorrow."

I tilt my head at him, "Didn't that person just say only teachers are allowed up here?"

"It'll be our little secret," he says, mischief glinting in his eyes.

"Okay," I can't stop smiling. I open the door and step back into the school and down the stairs. I slightly open the door downstairs and peek outside to see if there's any teachers walking through the hallway. I'm lucky that nobody saw me yesterday. I have to be more cautious now.

I squeeze my book against my chest in delight. Natsu spoke to me. Not as a teacher but as a friend. An attractive friend at that.

I wait for the train patiently. Is this how Juvia feels with Gray-sensei? It must be nice to feel this blissful all the time.

I'm glad the train in the afternoon isn't nearly as crowded as it is in the morning. I sit down on one of the seats on the edges. I open my book and begin reading. Although I'm reading each word carefully, I'm not paying attention. I'm still dazed with Natsu and the way he looked when he said, 'Our secret.'

"Hey, Lucy," a familiar voice says in front of me.

I look up and close my book.

"Hey, Sting."

"I didn't know you rode this train," his cerulean eyes looking brighter with the sun reflecting on them.

"I'm new," I explain.

"No wonder!" He laughs.

_He's so easygoing._

"If you ever need help looking for something you can tell me," he leans against one of the poles making himself comfortable.

I thank him and I'm expecting there to be an awkward silence but Sting goes onto another subject.

"Was that last story in English yours?" He asks.

"We have English together?!" I exclaim.

He pretends to stagger back in pain, like as if he got shot with an arrow.

"Sorry!" I snicker with him.

"So was it?"

I feel embarrassed as I nod my head yes.

"It was incredible. I felt like I was actually there," he compliments.

"I'm glad," I stiffly say.

The train halts to a stop and I notice Rogue exiting.

"Is your stop here?" I watch Rogue leaving.

"No, it's three more stops. Rogue likes to walk the rest of the way," he tells me.

"You look more athletic than him," I eye his muscles poking out of his short sleeves, thinking it isn't a big deal.

He follows where I'm looking at and he shrugs. His face turns into a light pink. I feel the need to apologize but I don't; I don't want to make it awkward.

"When do you get off?" Sting questions.

"Two more stops," I respond.

I see something flicker inside his eyes but it's gone when I try to figure out what it is.

After talking a bit with Sting, it's time for me to get off. I rise from the seat and start waving to him. He pulls onto my elbow and pulls me back a little.

"Lucy, do you like anyone?" His asks, almost a little too eagerly.

"I'm not sure yet," I say. He looks at me dumbfounded.

"Oh. Well, see you later," he releases my elbow and I get off.

I don't want anybody to know that I like Natsu. I don't want anybody to know that I like anyone. Saying that I do will only lead to questions and I will most definitely slip up and say it's Natsu.

As I'm walking back home, I purposely pass by the book/music store. There's a neon green poster that's taped onto the glass.

_"Fairy Tail concert in two weeks on Saturday! Don't miss it! Doors open at 7."_

I hold onto my school bag's strap tightly in excitement. Natsu and I will most definitely be coming to this concert whether he likes it or not.

I crawl into my bed at night and replay everything that happened today. With how Natsu was acting today, it's going to be impossible for me to erase the memories of us. It doesn't seem like Natsu will be able to do that either.

I fall asleep with the most contentment I have ever felt in my entire life.


	8. Endurance Part 2

**2014 is halfway over and I feel like crying. But o****ne more week till summer! I already practiced my High School Musical 2 moves.**

**Please enjoy and review! C: **

**I say 'enjoy' in all of my A/N's oh man okay bye. **

* * *

The mid-September air is gently falling down to a mild chill. The warm air is going through the odd phase where one second it's hot and the next second you feel winter creeping its way here. There are fewer birds humming in the morning now; everything is starting to settle down for the grand finale of the fall colors. My heart is the only thing that doesn't plan on settling down.

My legs are on autopilot as I walk to the train station. I don't have to think about where I'm going, I just know. It feels good to finally understand how things go around a place.

As soon as I step into the train I'm met with the biggest flirt I have ever encountered in my life.

"Good morning, beautiful," Loke greets.

"Morning," I say simply.

"I saw you with Sting yesterday. Are you cheating on me?" He asks with obvious fake hurt in his voice.

"Probably," I reply while trying to get away from him.

"Luuuuuccccy," he stretches out my name like a child.

"Go away," I glare at him.

His eyes widen in fear and he backs away a few steps. I smile in satisfaction.

"Why isn't Sting here?" I realize.

"Sting doesn't come on till the second to last stop," he answers.

"What?"

_Isn't Sting supposed to be picked up before me if he gets off last?_

"Weird," I say more to myself.

And the rest of the train ride to school consists of Loke trying out his awful pick up lines and me elbowing him in the ribs.

It's funny, ever since I began school each time I have different emotions than the day before. The first day was anxiety. Second was confidence. Today, it's anticipation.

I go to my classes and I'm already accustomed to the school and the people. I enjoy spending time with my new friends. Gajeel does his constant 'I'm a tough guy' act and as a result Levy lectures him to be nicer. Juvia swoons every second she sees, hears, or thinks about Gray-sensei. Cana steadily slurps her _special_ juice and blushes when Levy brings up the name 'Bacchus' a few times throughout the day. And weirdly enough I notice Wendy and Romeo having a little romance between them. I can never get bored with this group.

If I could have a remote control that would speed up time, I would flash by everything and press play when Natsu and I are together at the end of the day.

Levy and I arrive to our English class and Natsu isn't inside the classroom yet. I mentally sigh in relief because I still haven't figured out what kind of face to show him. If I see his face first I'll know what to do.

"Guess what?" Levy says enthusiastically as we sit down in our usual seats.

"Hm?" I can already tell what it will be.

"Gajeel asked me to _tutor_ him today," she whispers.

"Tutor?" I whisper back even though I have no reason to.

"Yep. It's just going to be him and I alone for three hours," she's still whispering; it comes out in a rush because of how excited she is.

I return to my regular voice, "This is the perfect time for Gajeel to confess his feelings for you."

Levy's face turns into a rosy pink, I can't hold in my laughter.

"Don't bring my hopes up," she murmurs.

The bell rings throughout the school and as soon as I hear Natsu's footsteps my heart begins to race.

"Hello, class," he says casually.

He glances at me and I forget to react; I merely look back at him with a straight face. I want to stop existing.

_That wasn't supposed to happen._

Today is one of Natsu's teaching lessons and I naturally zone out. I may be in love with the teacher and I may be in love with the class but I am completely out of love when it comes to learning about English. I prefer writing stories not learning how to write them.

I'm not the only one who daydreams. Levy blankly looks straight ahead with her pencil's eraser in her mouth. I have the largest urge to clap in front of her face to frighten her.

Since I sit in the back, I have a plethora amount of heads to stare at. However one of them is not the back of a head. Sting watches me with his head to the side so I can only see one of his light eyes. I slightly smile at him and his ears become the same shade as Natsu's hair as he turns back around.

English finally comes to an end and I selfishly feel glad that his class is over and we can see each other again.

"Don't be too rough on her," I warn Gajeel after school at the front gates.

Levy and Gajeel's faces look identical; speechless and shy.

I watch the couple—soon to be, anyway—walk away from the school. Gajeel leans onto Levy with his arm on top of her head. Although I can't hear them, I can tell she's demanding him to take his arm off, but she doesn't move away. It's like I'm watching my daughter getting married or something. I sigh in delight.

I, again, have to control myself and not sprint to our meeting spot. It's almost thrilling knowing that we're doing this in secret, but it's incredibly risky. I start coming up with terrible scenarios of Natsu and I getting caught; I shake away my negative thoughts. I turn the doorknob to the rooftop.

The sunlight envelops me in a warm embrace and soothes me in a matter of seconds. I turn around to the right corner of the platform and there are two blue chairs blocking the way of the ladder.

I push the two chairs together and sit on one and spread my legs on the other. I'd rather be in this place than lay on the concrete, really. Because of the time, the sun has set itself on the other side of the platform, making the side I'm at have a nice cool shade. I begin reading my book and my back faces the door.

"Making yourself at home, I see," Natsu says behind me after fifteen minutes of reading.

I rotate my head to him, "Did you bring these chairs up here?"

"Maybe," he hints.

I grin and I notice Natsu is holding onto a plastic bag.

"What's in there?" I eye the bag.

"Random food that I found in the teacher's lounge," he shrugs.

"Are you allowed to do that?" I feel nervous for him.

"Probably not!" He replies with the most carefree tone I've ever heard.. He goes to the chair where my feet are, lifts them up, sits down, then places my feet on top of his lap. My mouth drops in surprise but I don't move away.

He rummages through the bag that he placed on top of my shoes. He pulls out a small container with mini sandwiches. He smiles at me; I can't get enough of his flawless teeth.

There's something at the edge of my mind that I didn't, more like couldn't, shake out while coming up with the disastrous scenarios. It's annoying like a fly that keeps returning and constantly bothers you each time it comes.

He offers a sandwich to me and I nibble on them with him in silence.

"Is everything okay, Luce?" Natsu's voice is so full of concern my heart aches.

"I can't forget," I have my head down, staring at the half-eaten sandwich.

I feel frustrated at the situation when he doesn't respond. I look up at Natsu's face.

"Don't," he whispers softly.

I study his lava lamp-like eyes as my comfort. I just want to touch him. My ankles touching his upper knee isn't enough. I want to hold his hand, hug him, kiss him. We can never do these things, though, right?

As if he can read my mind he gently moves my legs onto the ground, as if I was a princess almost, and rises up from his seat.

"Get up," his voice is low and soft.

I look at him with confusion when I stand up. I'm about to ask what he's doing but he smoothly draws me towards him and wraps his arms around my shoulders.

My arms don't move the way I want them to, it's like my arms have been replaced by noodles. I lean my head towards his chest so he can't see my idiotic smile. He releases me too early.

Natsu's cheeks are a cute shade of red, "Am I allowed to do that?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" I avert my eyes and turn away. I'm so embarrassed.

"You're so small," Natsu's eyes widen a bit.

Just as I'm about to respond I hear a low growl. Natsu looks at my stomach; I look at his.

"It wasn't me!" We shout simultaneously.

We return back to sitting down and sharing stories and laughing together. Each time he speaks a little part of me falls in love with him even more. Am I the only one who is happy?

I sure hope not.

* * *

Loke and I speak with each other on the train again the next morning. His pickup lines are just utterly horrible but I laugh at each one. My cheeks have a sore-like sensation on them. I'm not surprised if they're sore because I was smiling while asleep.

As I cross the school gates I notice I've broken the record for the difference in emotions I have when coming into school. I enter school with anticipation once again.

Wendy is already ready for class as I trot in.

"Good morning," her small voice greets.

"Good morning, Wendy," I set my bag down next to her.

We discuss about future school events as we wait for Levy and Gajeel to come in. In the middle of our discussion Wendy's pure chocolate eyes look behind me and she raises her hands to her mouth squealing.

I look at what she's yelping at and my jaw drops to the floor.

Levy and Gajeel are _holding hands._

I whistle as my approval.

"Thank you!" Levy babbles. Gajeel turns his head to the side trying to cover his blush with his free hand.

"Did you go rough on her, Gajeel?" I tease him as payback for all the times he's embarrassed me.

I'm waiting for his sarcastic comeback but he doesn't say anything. His face flushes into the same shade as his crimson eyes. I tightly press my lips together and forbid myself to laugh out loud.

At lunch, Levy and Gajeel do not act different towards each other. They act the same as they did yesterday except with a twist. They hold hands under the table.

Levy's eyes are full with happiness, it's impossible to not see it. I realize her emotions are contagious as I feel myself getting cheerful as well.

Just knowing Levy has a boyfriend makes me feel giddy. It's the exact feeling when I think about Natsu and I being a couple.

If Levy can get together with Gajeel, why can't I get together with Natsu? I mean, how hard is it to confess, anyway? An idea pops into my head.

No matter what happens, I am going to confess to Natsu today.


	9. The First Step

**The week is halfway over, we will survive! Hopefully.**

**Here is chapter 9, please review and enjoy you lovely people. B) **

* * *

My nerves feel like they are being tickled by a light feather. It's almost like my body is pestering itself. I'm jumpy when I go into English with Levy.

"You know, Lucy, the weekend is coming up. We should all get together on Saturday and make a 'Welcome Lucy!' party," Levy proposes when we sit in our seats, referring to our small group of friends.

My anxiety lessens as I get distracted, "A party for me? No way."

"Please?" Levy pleads.

"No," I don't look into her puppy eyes.

"Pleaaaseeee," her whines getting louder.

"Fine," I sigh in defeat. "Where to?"

"How about karaoke?" The bluenette brightens up at her idea.

"I've never been," I confess.

"It's tons of fun! It's okay if you can't sing, none of us can."

"Sounds like a deal," I smile at her.

"You can come to my house!" She plans for us.

I can't restrain my imagination from going friend-crazy. This is my first time going out with friends. Back home, I had a few acquaintances here and there but I was never actually invited to places with others. I saw my 'friends' at school and only at school. This will be my first time having a party celebrating me—not to sound self-absorbed—_and_ hang out with friends during the weekend.

"I can't wait!" I clap my hands together, the bell chiming with my claps.

Natsu shuts the door behind him and I feel tense again. He is going to know how I feel about him in less than an hour. I start building a steel cage around my heart, so it can take as many hits as possible before being broken. At least I'm hoping it'll be able to survive the hits.

"I don't really have anything for you guys, today," he leans against the board just like everyday. "So you can just speak among yourselves," he waves us off and goes to his desk. He rests his feet on the top of his desk and spreads apart a newspaper in front of his face.

I watch him leaf through the large pages and catch tiny glimpses of his face. His eyebrows are furrowed barely as he reads. Levy's voice interrupts my staring.

"Why are you staring at Natsu?" She leans closer to me.

"I zoned out," I lie.

"Why do you look so happy?"

My breath gets caught in my throat. I can't make a lie that quick. I feel a tap on my shoulder.

"Hey," Sting greets, sitting down in the desk next to me.

I silently thank him for saving me.

"Hey!" I reply happily because of him saving me.

A light pink spreads across his cheeks.

"Who are you?" Levy asks.

"I'm Sting," he doesn't look Levy in the eyes.

"What? Really? Aren't you the one who got expelled last year?" Her voice is full of shock.

"Suspended," he mumbles.

I glance at him with an alarmed expression. Sting getting suspended? I can't see it.

"What did you do?" I'm afraid to hear his response.

"I got into a little fight," Sting stares down at his desk.

"A little?!" Levy bursts. "There were blood stains on the walls for three days."

I notice Sting's hands trembling. He flattens them on the desk.

He looks at the both of us, "It was last year. Can you please forget about it?" His voice and smile is forced.

Levy straightens up in her seat with wide eyes, "Done."

I start feeling a cautious sensation. Although I can't imagine Sting violently punching someone, I can't just go by my own beliefs when someone said it did actually happen. Is Sting not as good as I thought?

"Your brother is that one guy, oh what's his name? Rogue?" Levy taps her pencil against the desk in thought.

He nods.

I don't pay attention to the rest of the topic. I allow myself to peek at Natsu just for a second.

He's looking at me from the corner of the newspaper, I can only see one hazel eye. He wiggles his eyebrow at me and I see his eyes squint a little. He's smiling at me.

I cover my mouth in an attempt to hide my smile and look down at the desk. My cheeks feel have swirling infernos on them.

"Your cheeks are red. Are you sick?" Sting bends his head down to look up at me from a lower level.

I rise my head, "No, I'm fine! I'm fine," I say it twice for good measure.

"Sting, you never asked for my name!" Levy realizes.

"It's Levy, isn't it?" He guesses.

"Yeah, how did you know?" She tilts her head at him.

"Gajeel talks about you a lot in Chemistry," he begins to mimic Gajeel's raspy voice. "Levy knows how to solve this equation. Levy knows which chemicals to balance. Levy knows everything."

Levy pounds her forehead against the desk multiple times.

"Why does he have to be so cute?!" Levy is a level below screaming. Everybody in our class pivots their heads to her.

She hangs her head down avoiding all contact, "Sorry."

"You and Gajeel are friends, then?" I assume to Sting.

"Sort of. He's better friends with my brother," he explains.

"You don't look related at all," Levy narrows her eyes at him.

"We know," he repeats in the same tone as he used with me a couple of days earlier.

"You and Rogue should come to karaoke with a couple of our friends on Saturday," Levy suggests to Sting.

"I can't sing," Sting looks away embarrassed.

"It's better that way," she assures. "And it's a welcome party for Lucy."

His eyes waver, "I'll think about it."

"You don't have to go," I ensure him.

"Lucy, you're supposed to tell people to go not the opposite," Levy chides me like I'm a child.

Sting chuckles at us as we bicker.

I turn to him and look at his pointy teeth. His meager scar disappears above his right eyes when he laughs.

"Sting, come over here," someone calls out to us.

Sting rises from his seat and nods, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

We wave him away.

"Sting likes you," Levy jabbers out. She sounds like she's been holding on to a secret for years and she is finally given the opportunity to tell someone.

"What?" My mouth drops.

"He does! I can feel the heat radiating off his ears from where I'm from," Levy points to the seat next to mine where Sting was situated.

"Maybe his ears are naturally red?" I poorly rationalize.

"He likes you," she restates again.

"He doesn't! Stop saying that," I'm almost begging. I'm completely perplexed.

"Why don't you go for it? Other than the stuff that happened last year—"

"He told you to forget," I interrupt.

"And I did! Well, I'm working on it," Levy continues. "You and him would make a cute couple. Blonde with blonde is cute."

"You know what hair colors are cute together?"

"What?" Levy asks gleefully.

"Blue and black," I smirk.

Levy blushes violently and her neck goes limp. Her head drops onto her desk with a loud thud.

I grin in victory.

"Don't make jokes like that. It makes my heart stop beating," Levy complains with her head still on the desk.

I shrug care-freely. Levy knows that they make match well, anyway.

Soon enough the bell dismisses us away.

Levy and I meet up with Gajeel. They innocently ogle at each other and smile, Gajeel's smiling face looks petrifying.

I slide away a bit to let the couple do their lovey-dovey talk and look around at everyone leaving. Levy clears her throat, a sign telling me it's okay to return. I notice they're already holding hands. It makes me want to hug the couple but Gajeel would most definitely kick me away and choke me.

"The party for you is on!" Levy pumps her fist in the air.

A wide grin is planted onto my face, "I look forward to it!"

"I'm not getting you anything, Blondie," Gajeel's eyes pierce into mine.

"Please don't," I quip back.

We nod in a silent agreement. Gajeel starts tugging onto Levy. He mutters a short goodbye and turns around with her.

Levy pulls back so she can talk to me but he uses his muscles to bring her towards him. Levy is practically dragging her feet; she turns her head back to me.

"See you tomorrow!" She calls out, her face so incredibly euphoric I can feel it from where I'm standing.

Hiking up the stairs to the rooftop, I feel myself getting more tired than usual. Why is my heart beating so fast? Why do I feel hot? Why are my feelings so jumbled up?

I rotate the chair so it faces the way the door is. I'm still in the shade of course, I will die from heat stroke if I sit in the sun while feeling this unfamiliar with my emotions.

I shift apprehensively in my seat and I fidget my fingers around. The soft creaking of the door makes me feel nauseous.

"Sorry, Luce, I didn't bring food," he has his hands in his pockets .

"It's okay," I reply shakily.

"Did you know there's going to be a Fairy Tail concert soon?" Natsu drops into his seat that faces me.

"I was going to tell you that yesterday," I say in disbelief.

"Beat you to it," he winks playfully.

"Are there tickets for the concert?" I ask.

"Yep. They look like this," he pulls his right hand out from his pocket and holds up two black rectangular pieces of papers with neon colors.

I have to force my hand to stay put to not snatch them away.

I don't want to make a self-centered assumption so I ask, "Who are you going to go with?"

He looks up at the sky, "I was thinking of asking a small blonde girl with mesmerizing chocolate-brown eyes. I can't remember her name, though. I think it sounds similar to Luigi."

I grin trying not to laugh, "I think you should ask Luigi. I bet she's dying to go."

"Would you like to accompany me to this concert?" He lifts up one ticket at me.

My fingers brush against his as I grab onto it, "I would feel honored to accompany you."

He smiles his signature smile and I can't help but smile back at him. His smile is like a pandemic, always spreading to others. Natsu's smile is a good kind of pandemic.

I zip open my bag and place the ticket inside then zip it back up. My gut tells me it's time. The protection around my heart is finally ready to withstand any hit.

Just as I open my mouth Natsu stands up from his chair.

"Let's look through the fences," he steps towards the other side of the rooftop.

I reluctantly follow him. I grip onto the fence, my fingers wrap around the diamonds.

"Although we can't see much as usual since we're closer, it's still beautiful," I examine the remote grassy mountains.

"Do you ever wish to fly? Right now, we could fly to that mountain and just sit there. Nobody would know," Natsu's voice is lost in his imagination.

I look up at him and see the strings of his scarf waving through the small holes in the fence. His sharp jaw line sticks out more than ever. I want to take a picture of him and make him mine forever.

"Hey, Natsu," I lightly poke his arm.

He pokes me back on the cheek, "Hey, Luce."

I gaze up into his warm eyes. It took days for me to soften up these once hard eyes. Will my confession make all my efforts be for nothing? Will my confession make Natsu not talk to me anymore? Will he hate me?

I feel myself wanting to hide my feelings from him and just be happy with this. But can I be like this with him forever? He needs to know how I feel.

I take a deep breath and allow my feelings to flow out.


	10. Confession

**Short chapter but cute chapter. C:**

**My summer vacation has now started and you know what that means! Stories shall be updated more quickly than usual, yay! Well, I hope so, anyway..**

**I'm probably going to get writers block but like I said to a friend, I'm going to break through it like a titan.**

**Enjoy chapter 10 and the otp feels that come along with it.**

* * *

The wind lightly brushes against my exposed ankles. My gray skirt wavers just as slow as a ship swaying on ocean waves. I tuck the loose locks of my blonde hair behind my ear. Natsu's eyes watch my every single movement I make.

"Why do you look so seriou—"

"I'm in love with you, Natsu," I interrupt him.

I stare straight into his gaze. I don't pay attention to anything else around us except his soft smooth hazel eyes. He's silent; I go on.

"I know I'm a child in your eyes. I know I'm seventeen so I don't might not know what love is. You probably think I'm mistaking happiness with love, right? I'm not — oh, I _know_ I'm not," I grip onto the hem of my skirt to hide my trembling fingers.

"You're like a Fairy Tail song that I can't get out of my head," I continue. "Really, I don't want you out of my head. When I think of you my heart beats so rapid my chest feels like it's going to explode. We didn't meet long ago, but it seems like I have known you for my whole life. I'm so glad that I had the chance to meet you and I can honestly and happily say that I have fallen in love with you."

The last part comes out in a rush. My neck and ears are on fire. When did the butterflies in my stomach get so large?

Natsu's eyes tell me he's thinking, but how long does it take to think? Is he trying to make me feel worse by just making me wait an eternity just for a response?

"You're really cute."

"W-what?" I stutter.

He breaks our eye contact. He looks back out at the fences, his cheeks the color of a late sunset.

Is he not going to respond to anything else? Is he trying to reject me in the least harsh way possible?

"Natsu," I whisper. I feel myself slipping onto the verge of tears.

"I need you to tell me to go away and see you as a teacher only. If you don't, I won't be able to," I force myself to croak out.

This is for the best, isn't it?

Natsu hesitantly rotates to me. He closes the distance between us and encloses me in a secure hug. He lightly nuzzles my hair as I have my head leaning against his shoulder.

"I love you," his lips are right next to my right ear, his voice flooding into it like a river. I can feel when his lips curve to say the word 'love.'

A quiet whimper escapes my lips. The tears that were afraid of rejection have transformed into tears of pure bliss. Natsu pulls away to look at my face and I notice his shirt. There's a damp spot where I just was.

My tears fall down on the ground like sprinkling rain. My bottom lip quivers.

"Why are you crying?" Natsu chuckles as he wipes the tears off with his thumbs.

"I've never felt this happy before," I laugh with more tears streaming down my face.

He smiles at me without revealing his teeth. We stare at each other and the forgotten thought resurfaces into our minds at the same time.

"We can't do this," Natsu speaks out for the both of us.

I open my mouth but clamp it shut. I hang my head down to look at our shoes.

He lifts my head slowly and cups my cheek; running his thumb across it with incredible delicacy. We're gazing into each others eyes so deeply it's almost as if we're both absorbing the moment and wish to stay like this forever.

"Do you want to try?" Natsu suggests with uncertainty.

I feel so conflicted I can't make my voice work. I nod, his hand moving along with me.

He understands my inability to speak so he does the talking, "Let's try, then."

"Nobody can know, right?" My voice is small.

He nods, "Just us."

"We're secret lovers," I say.

"Secret lovers," he echoes.

"It's going to be hard seeing you in class and not be able to hug you," I cover my face and groan.

"What about me? I have to lecture a whole class and have you stare at me the whole time," he removes my fingers from my face, plucking one off one by one.

I look down at our connected hands. They feel the same as they did when we went stargazing. Nothing like Loke's. Nothing like Sting's.

I raise my head back up at him, "I have to listen to you speak for 45 minutes straight. That's torture."

"I don't think seeing you here is going to be enough for me," Natsu leans his forehead against mine. The edges of our noses bumping into each other.

"We have the Fairy Tail concert in two weeks," I remind him.

"Already counting down the days," he smiles and closes his eyes.

"Me too," I reply and close my eyes with him.

We're silent. I listen to the cars going around, the sound of birds, and the leaves on trees rustling away onto the ground. I open my eyes and Natsu is already looking down at me.

"Can I hug you?" I ask shyly. I've never hugged Natsu first, he's always been the one that initiated it.

"Bring it here," he opens his arms with a goofy smile that I will never get tired of.

I timidly wrap my arms around his shoulders. It feels weird hugging someone; I'm the one that gets hugged. I can feel his slim body pressing against mine. He's fit. His cheek is right next to my cheek.

"This feels weird," I say.

"Not to me," he wraps his arm around my waist. I don't even need to be told; I know Natsu is smirking.

The closeness of our bodies finally comes into my mind. I begin to tear away because it's becoming too much for me. Natsu's arm doesn't budge.

"Let's stay like this for a bit," he breathes out.

I can feel a faint heartbeat that isn't mine. It's beating at the same pace as mine, if not faster.

"Why are you so nervous?" I tease.

"I'm not."

"Your heartbeat doesn't say so," I pick on him more.

"Neither does yours," he counters.

"True," a laugh coming out of my lips.

As soon as Natsu and I spread apart, I feel the urge to touch him again. We were just touching, why do I want to touch him again? I feel like he's part of a magnet and I'm the other side. Some invisible pull keeps drawing us towards each other.

"We've been here for a while," Natsu notices as we see the sun being a little lower on the sky than usual.

"I don't want this day to end," I admit selfishly.

"Let's go somewhere after school tomorrow. It's gonna be Friday."

"Deal," I grin at him. He returns it.

"Go now," he nods at the door.

"I'm going, I'm going," I reply as I'm opening the door.

Just as I'm about to close the door I glance back at him.

"I love you a lot, Natsu."

I slam the door as soon as I say it. I jump down the stairs, three steps at a time, and speed walk out of the school to the station.

_I said it, I said it, I said it, I said it._

I'm not paying attention much to my surroundings as I'm on the train. I step off the train at my stop and continue walking in this daze I'm in. The trees haul me out of my hypnotized state.

There are pale crimson leaves already falling to the ground. It's not many but every couple of seconds one leaf releases itself from the trees grip and drifts away. These single leaves falling to the ground, one by one, is just exactly how I fell in love with Natsu.

I guess you can say all my leaves have fallen to the ground already.


	11. And So It Begins

**I got a review saying that I should update faster.. I tried! I really did. I made this chapter super long, though. So the wait was worth it, right? I hope so.**

**I get my braces off tomorrow and I'm ready to feel like a changed woman.**

**Well anyway, enjoy this long chapter, everyone~**

* * *

Everything that happened yesterday seems like it was a dream. I never confessed to Natsu, Natsu never said he loved me, we didn't hug, nor did we say we were going to get together today. I keep thinking that but the few pinches I've given myself tell me otherwise. When did I ever get the guts to confess? Who knows.

Levy and Gajeel receive constant skeptical stares when they walk through the hallway together holding hands. I shuffle behind them, there's too much of a crowd in the hallways to walk in a line of three.

"People love to stare at you two," I say to the couple in our first class.

"We were getting stared at?!" Levy cries out obliviously to Gajeel. He merely shrugs in response.

"Good morning, everyone," Wendy pops in.

"Morning," we all reply.

"I can't wait for your party tomorrow, Lucy," Wendy's dainty face lights up with excitement.

A frown forms onto my face, "I forgot about that. Do I have to bring anything?"

"Just yourself," Levy answers.

Lisanna soon strolls her way inside the classroom and begins her lesson. The same routine continues; Gajeel's soul is sucked out of his body, Levy writes twice as much, and Lisanna attempts to make the class laugh with math puns.

"I'll try to sum it up for you guys on Monday!" Lisanna calls out to everyone as we exit the class.

Levy and I snicker with each other at the cheesy joke; Gajeel glares at us in annoyance. I scoot away and turn my back towards them as we begin to separate. It may be my imagination but I believe I hear a slight squeak from a kiss. Levy walks past me and I watch her go by. She turns back around and raises an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Did you just kiss him?" My jaw drops.

"N-no!" Levy spits out, her face getting red.

"Suuure," I nod.

"We didn't kiss!" Levy flails her arms around.

"Could you men walk any slower?!" Elf-sensei roars behind us.

We aren't walking in the first place, but I don't look back at him, I begin to walk fast. Levy follows me hurriedly as well. As soon as we step a single foot outside Elf-sensei barks out orders.

"Men!" He points at the boys. "Run three miles and get back to me later!" The boys sprint to the track and start their three tiresome miles. No questions asked.

"Other men!" He points at the girls this time. "You may power walk two miles!"

Although two miles is lots of hard work, I consider it a blessing. Levy and I speed walk and start speaking with Cana.

"I already said I'm not singing tomorrow," Cana repeats for the fifth time.

"Why not? We need you to," Levy protests.

"I'd rather be skinned alive," Cana replies with the straw still in her mouth. I still don't understand how she doesn't choke on it. All it does is hang at the edge of her mouth like it's connected to it by glue.

Levy pouts, "Just one song?"

Cana's face tell me she's thinking about the idea but you can see her press the big red no button.

"We'll all make you," Levy says mischievously.

"Who is going, anyway?" I inquire. How sad is it that I don't even know who is going to my party?

"Let me think. So there's me, Cana, Gajeel, Wendy," she lists the people on her fingers. "Romeo, Juvia, and possibly Sting and Rogue."

My eyes widen, "Full house."

"Yep! The rooms are pretty spacious, though, so it'll be okay," Levy assures.

I nod hesitantly. This party is making me feel a little nervous, actually.

Lunch breezes by with pizza that have the same characteristics as a piece of cardboard.

"Juvia won't be able to see Gray-sensei for two days!" Juvia whines in her station.

"Perseverance," Levy encourages while pats her back.

Juvia looks at Levy with the most glassy eyes I've ever seen, "Juvia will try."

Ceramics isn't a tough class, of course, but the molding and other things is quite tiring. It makes my hand ache after a while. Thankfully, today we are painting our bowls we started in the beginning of the week. They will dry over the weekend and we'll be able to take them home on Monday.

I blankly look down at my bowl not knowing what to do with it. In the corner of my right eye I see Levy vigorously painting the clay.

"What are you doing?" I lean my head closer to her.

She lifts her head and hides the bowl so I can't see it, "Nothing! It's a surprise."

"I'm sure Gajeel will love it," I smirk at her.

Levy sticks her tongue out at me like a child and returns to painting her bowl. I look to my left and see Juvia gracefully painting her bowl.

"What are you doing?" I examine the various shades of blue on her bowl.

"Gray-sensei is the light blue. Juvia is the dark blue," she explains.

I smile at Juvia, noticing how much she really cares for Gray-sensei. I want to hug her and tell her that they'll make it one day. But of course, I can't do that.

I go back to my empty canvas, in bowl form, and think. I dip my paintbrush into a color and smoothly paint over the clay. The second I finish Gray-sensei announces it's time to clean up. I sigh in relief, content with the result of my bowl.

Juvia's hasn't made much of a change to her bowl, the darker shades of blue swivel around the lighter shades. Juvia also looks satisfied.

Levy doesn't allow me to even peek at her bowl, she's too embarrassed to show it. I have no other choice but to believe that it is just as good as Juvia's and mine.

"What does yours mean?" Levy and Juvia study my bowl.

"You see how there's only four colors?" I turn the bowl around so they can see all the sides. "Each color represents what I've felt when I started school. Yellow means anxious. Green means anticipation. Orange means mixed. Red means happy or loving."

"Red is on there twice," Levy points out.

I grin at her, "I know."

The class neatly lays their bowl in their assigned place inside the shelves at the back of the classroom and we exit our class.

My next two classes consist of the regular daydreaming and excitement of seeing Natsu. I happily walk with Levy inside English. Sting and I make eye contact, I smile at him and resume speaking to Levy.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" Levy asks.

"Just going to enjoy myself," I lie. I feel guilty having to lie to Levy. We just became friends and I'm already lying to her. Guilt begins to spread all around me each second.

"You should come hang out with Gajeel and I," she offers.

"And be the third wheel?" I laugh. "No way."

Levy is about to argue but she realizes that it's inevitable, anyway. Gajeel would never let someone share his Levy.

"And it's your first Friday night as a couple. You have hours to do anything you want together," I add.

Levy grips onto her bag that's on top of her desk.

"I'm nervous," she whispers. "I'm not ready."

"You think you're going to..." My voice trails off.

She nods quickly, "He has hugged me _a lot_ lately. I think he wants to."

"If you tell him you're not ready, he'll understand," I say, hoping to lighten up the mood.

Levy looks at me with unsure eyes as the bell rings.

I begin hearing Natsu's footsteps and I look down at my desk to hide my smile. He walks in and I notice myself watching him more closely. I suspected that I already knew his habits, but he has a new set of them if you study them from afar. I learn something new from Natsu each day.

"You're going to write today. Instead of me reading them, the person beside you will," Natsu looks at the front of the class. His eyes go to the back of the class, I notice he looks at me longer more than the others. I've never had to contain a blush so much like this in my life.

"Today's a free write day. You have twenty-five minutes, now go," he shoos us off.

I don't have much in mind so I aimlessly write. Because of how completely engrossed I was into my story last time, I didn't hear the soft music Natsu put on. This time, he plays classical music and I'm able to enjoy it.

Natsu is walking through the aisles, looking down at everyone's work as he passes by. I feel my heartbeat quicken when he gets closer. He's a foot away from my desk but he doesn't look down at me. He looks straight ahead and I tilt my head slightly at him. I look back down at my desk returning to my writing and see a small crumpled up piece of paper on the corner. I turn to Levy to see her still writing so I slowly reach for the paper. I open up the piece of paper as quietly as the music. Flattening it out on the desk, I read it.

_"I have a meeting after school. I think it's an hour long. Go home and meet me at the store around six."_

I expect Natsu's handwriting to be flawless because of how much he must have written in college to become a teacher. I am way off the mark. Natsu's handwriting is chicken scratch. A small smile tugs at the edges of my lips but I push it away.

I don't need to ask him, he's referring to the book/music store. There's no better place to meet.

Natsu has returned to his desk and I take a peek at him. Our eyes connect and I give a single nod. He nods back and his eyes roam around the classroom.

As soon as Natsu allows us to share our stories Levy and I admit simultaneously, "I didn't try."

We high-five each other and give a summary of our stories. We don't bother reading it.

"I was told that Rogue isn't going tomorrow, but Sting is," Levy informs.

"I wonder why he's not going?" I ponder.

She shrugs, "Beats me. He doesn't look like he socializes much, anyway," she pauses. "But you know what that means."

"What?" A small scowl forms onto my face.

"Sting and you could—"

"Absolutely not," I say immediately.

"But—"

"No, Levy," I put my elbows onto the desk and press my palms against my face.

"Why are you so against it?" Levy's voice is full of curiosity.

"Because I can't be with him," I keep it short. Levy and I are slowly treading into the danger zone and we need to turn back around soon.

Levy doesn't fight against the subject anymore. I feel better now.

"I'll walk you to the gates," I tell Levy after English finishes.

Levy is a nervous wreck when we get to the gates. I put an arm around her small shoulders and pat one of them as comfort.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" I wave at them.

A stranger wouldn't think anything is wrong with the couple. I can easily tell, Levy looks more stiff. Her back seems tense and she's a couple of inches further away from Gajeel. I sigh, hoping that he won't force her to do anything she doesn't want to do.

It feels foreign going to the train station at this time. I should be at the rooftop now waiting for Natsu. My legs are begging me to go back to the school. Because of how early it is, the train isn't going to arrive for the next fifteen minutes or so. I plop down into one of the empty benches. I look onto the other side of the platform expressionless. I hear someone sit down next to me.

"Hey, Lucy."

"Hey, Sting," my eyes follow him sitting down.

"You're early today, huh?" He looks at the clock above all the train schedules behind us.

"Yeah, I didn't feel like going to the library today," I reply.

"So that's where you go!" He raises his arms and they fall back down on his lap. "I always wondered, because I know you take the train that comes here the second time."

"Why did you lie about your stop the other time?" I ask bluntly.

His mouth opens and closes, resembling a fish. He's a fish with fire red scales.

"I wanted to get to know you more," he mumbles.

"Oh," I say stiffly. "Well, I hope to see you tomorrow at karaoke," I direct the conversation elsewhere.

"Yeah, I'll be there. Just not Rogue."

"Why doesn't he want to go?" I question.

"He likes his cat more than people," he says with some irritation.

"Cats are way better than people, anyway," I side with Rogue.

"Dragons are better," Sting declares.

"Too bad they don't exist," I look at Sting's face.

His face mirrors a kid who just found out Santa doesn't exist. I press my lips together in a tight line, prohibiting a laugh to come out.

We start bickering with each other playfully, using retorts we would use as kids. We don't notice the train arriving until it's crowded. The first train must be the crowded one while the second one isn't crowded whatsoever. I ache to be on the second train right now.

"This is your fault," I blame him while trying to squeeze through everyone.

"Sorry," he mutters.

Our backs are pressing against each other. I can feel his shoulder blades poking out. I sense that Sting and I are going to be back to back until he gets off, hopefully at his correct stop this time, but I feel him moving around. I turn my head back at him and watch him rotating towards me.

"Turn around towards me so you don't have to be facing that man's back," he tells me.

"I-I'm okay," I reject his idea and face the man's back.

If Natsu sees us being that close together it'd look completely wrong. I have to keep my distance from guys like Sting now.

"Fine. But I probably smell better than that guy," he tries to convince me.

"This guy smells good," I say even though I can't smell the man at all.

The man turns his head towards me with a confused look. I avert my eyes the second we make eye contact.

The train's doors slide open and passengers file out, I breathe out loudly; finally some space. I step forward and pivot around to face Sting at a more proper distance.

"Are you going to get off at the right stop this time?" I ask wryly.

He grimaces, "Yes. I have things to do today."

"What are you going to do today?"

"I have to work," he says simply.

"Are students allowed to work?" I think back to my school. It is completely forbidden for a student attending the school to have a job. They can get kicked out for it.

"What my boss doesn't know won't hurt him," he shrugs.

"Where do you work?" I start imagining myself picking on his work uniform.

"Why are you asking so many questions?" Sting asks with exasperation.

I cock an eyebrow at his sudden anger.

"Didn't mean to say it like that," he puts a hand behind his neck and groans.

"It's fine," I make my voice tell him it's not.

We don't speak until it's time for Sting to get off.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lucy," he walks past me.

I nod at him.

He looks at me and it seems he wants to say something but he doesn't. He exits the train.

I don't let the sour mood that Sting left behind bother me. Right when the doors glide open I almost dash to my apartment. I need to take a shower and I need to find a decent outfit. I haven't seen Natsu in his normal clothes in a week and he hasn't seen mine. We're going to go on a date when we meet, I hope. I wish to look at least a little attractive for it.

Kicking off my shoes at the entrance of my apartment, I throw my school bag on my bed and pull out the multiple drawers that contain my clothes. Oh, how I wish this apartment included a closet.

I pick one of my most beloved shirts, being a royal blue. It's long for a shirt so I pair it black leggings.

After taking a shower and singing to my heart's content, I style my hair so it has a slight curl on the ends. Natsu loves to twirl it around with his finger.

It's already been an hour and a half since I came home. I leave my apartment and I bump into Mirajane going up the stairs as I'm going down them.

"Lucy! You've finished your first week of school!" Mirajane hugs me tightly.

"It's been fun, actually," I confess. She smiles at me and I look behind her.

"Where's Lisanna?"

"She had meetings today," she pouts because of how lonely she is without her sister. "But I'm happy for her, though! Don't tell anybody this," Mirajane searches the area for anybody suspicious. "Lisanna likes one of the staff members."

"Who?" I'm caught up in the gossip for some reason. A small part of me fears it's Natsu.

"His name is Laxus. He's the man who follows the prinicpal and Erza around," she whispers frantically.

"I haven't seen him," I feel at ease knowing it's not Natsu.

"Oh! Well, if you ever see him, just know that is my future brother-in-law," Mirajane beams.

"A future congrats to you," I say. I notice Mirajane studying my outfit.

"Going out?" She winks.

"Just for a bit," I reply shyly.

"Did you ever see the boy again?" Mirajane asks.

"Ah, no," I answer.

Mirajane frowns, "That's too bad."

I nod and she presses herself against the railing to give me space to go through.

"Don't come back too late," she uses an adult-like tone.

"Yes, sister," I smile at her, remembering that I have joined her family.

Mirajane glows in happiness as I wave goodbye to her.

It's close to six but I don't get to the store until it's six o'clock even. I glance at the familiar store and the music players. I remembered to bring my earphones this time.

I amble to the library to distract myself for a while. I look down at the time on my phone; Natsu is thirty minutes late.

_Teachers talk a lot._

I listen to music, shuffling through all sorts of albums. After listening to some unusual music I read the clock again. He's an hour late.

I feel the urge to text him but I turn down the idea. Maybe the meeting just dragged on for too long because students are so terrible at school? Maybe they're discussing all the things to improve learning? What is it that teacher debate about, anyway?

I begin getting suspicious views from the person working in the store. The low growl of my stomach tells me that it's time to go eat something and come back after a while. I push the door open and notice it's a little after sunset. Greedy winter always making the days shorter and nights longer.

I don't have the energy to go inside a restaurant and wait for my food to come. I notice a small trailer parked at the end of a street. The window to the trailer is open and inside stands an adorable girl who has the appearance of a five year old.

"Hello, ma'am," she greets politely.

"Ah, hi," I smile at her. "What do you sell here?"

"Cookies!" She shouts. "And lots of other sweet stuff."

"Oh, that's—"

"Asuka? What are you doing?" I hear a female voice in the trailer.

"We have a customer!" She points down at me.

A woman with luminous emerald hair leans down to the window so she can see me.

"Welcome to our shop!" She says enthusiastically, a hint of a western accent in her voice. "I'm Bisca and this is Asuka," Bisca ruffles her daughter's hair.

Bisca explains the various types of sweets they sell and I settle for the classic chocolate chip cookie. The cookie melts into my mouth when I bite into it. I moan in delight.

"Come again soon!" Asuka and Bisca yell out in unison.

"I'll be coming back!" I guarantee them.

I finish the cookie in less than a minute. I even feel the impulse to turn back around and get seconds. I check the time again; it's been an hour and twenty minutes. The street lamps are starting to switch on.

The worker inside the store watches me through the glass outside and reviews me with a suspicious look once again. I breathe heavily, almost annoyed at being stood up. I pull open the door to the store and there's a heavy pressure on my shoulder. I let the door go and it slams shut.

"I'm so sorry, Luce," Natsu pants out, using my shoulder as his support.

He's out of breath and he still has the clothes on he wore during school. His scarf is tugged farther away from his neck than usual. Did he run from the train station to here?

Before I'm about to react he explains everything in a rush.

"The meeting was over in less than thirty minutes but all the teachers stayed to eat. I swear I told them I had to be somewhere but they forced me to stay. They said I'm the life of the party," he adds the last part attempting to make me smile.

I'm at a loss for words. I stare at him inexpressively.

"Are you mad? Oh, you're mad," he answers his question. "I'm really sorry, Luce. I promise I'll make it up to you."

Although I am not mad at all, solely relieved, I decide to play along with it.

"How so?"

He's still trying to regain his normal breathing and remorse takes its toll on me. Just as I'm about to say I'm not mad at all, he snaps his fingers.

"Do you want to know where I live?" He asks excitedly.

My mouth drops, "Can I?"

He nods.

"Is your neighborhood scary?"

"My neighbor, especially," he says, but it doesn't sound too serious.

I follow Natsu and he holds onto my hand gently, leading me to his home. I look down at our connected hands still in shock that he's mine and I'm his.

Each step we take I get a more uneasy feeling. There's a thought in my mind, but it can't possibly be correct, right?

I'm led to an apartment complex that is far too familiar for me. I go up the stairs with him and he goes to his door.

"I never got to properly introduce myself," he begins unlocking his door. The Fairy Tail key chain jingling with his keys.

He enters his door and extends his hand out from the doorway.

"Hey, neighbor. I'm Natsu."

"Neighbor?" I squeak.

"I felt the same way as you when I walked you home that one time," he admits.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I like to be mysterious," he grins childishly.

I roll my eyes with a grin.

"Do you want to come in?" He opens the door wider for me to step in.

I'm about to respond a simple yes, but a thought surfaces into my mind.

_Natsu and I in an apartment together? Alone?_

My thoughts must be obvious because Natsu's expression softens.

"I won't do anything, I promise," he raises his pinky at me.

I wrap my pinky finger around his just so I can touch him.

"A promise only a Pinky can make," I refer to his hair.

"Very funny," he replies sarcastically.

I go inside his apartment and look around. It's the same build as mine and Mirajane's home.

"You're a pro at decorating," I point at all the blank walls.

"I'm not here much," he walks into the kitchen. "Do you want anything?"

"Whatever you're having is fine," I follow him into the kitchen.

"You can't have alcohol, Luce," he jokes.

"You're going to drink alcohol?" I exclaim in horror.

"Of course not," he takes out two cans of soda from the fridge.

He beckons me over to the table with him and I sit myself down. We crack open the sodas and gulp down the fizzy drink.

"Do you like alcohol?" I dare myself to ask.

"Sometimes. For the most part I stick to soda, though," he rises his can into the air.

"Hmm," I sip my soda.

"Did you have anything to eat while I was being bombarded by teachers?" Natsu asks.

"I had this really good cookie from a small trailer. You really need to try them!"

"Bisca and Alzack's?" Natsu slams his hands onto the table.

I'm unfamiliar with the name Alzack but I say yes anyway to the Bisca part.

Natsu leans back into his seat, "Their cookies are the best. I've never loved a cookie so much in my life."

I grin at Natsu's lazy position. A random yawn escapes my lips.

"You're tired, aren't you? Waiting for two hours," he understands.

"I'll be okay," I drink more soda.

Natsu's eyes beg me to go and get rest but he doesn't oppose.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" He crosses his arms against his chest getting more comfortable.

I groan, "There's going to be a party for me at some karaoke place tomorrow night."

"Kids still do karaoke?" Natsu raises his eyebrows in shock.

"Old man," I snort.

He bends towards me and pokes my forehead, "Hey."

"I wish we could be together tomorrow," I give him a small smile.

"Let's go on a date Sunday," Natsu plans.

A blush blossoms onto my face. If Natsu says it out loud then it is a definite date.

"Where to?" I try not to ask too interested.

"Secret," he shows his sharp teeth.

I use my best depressed face I can create. Natsu merely bends across the table again to squeeze my cheeks like I'm a child.

We spend the rest of the night speaking with each other and cracking stupid jokes. We don't move to the living room or his room.

Although we are together, we don't act differently towards each other. We just touch each other a _b__it_ more often. I can't get enough of the warmness that radiates from Natsu and it's obvious it's the same with him towards me.

It's almost midnight by the time that I start leaving.

"Don't get hurt on your way home," He kids, opening his door for me.

"It's going to be hard," I take two steps and I'm at my door.

I unlock my door and turn my head to him, "Goodnight, Natsu."

Stepping into my apartment, I end up being hauled back by my wrist. Natsu locks me into a tight hug and I listen to his deep even breaths. He releases me too soon.

"Goodnight, Luce," he steps backwards into his home.

I smile at him widely and shut the door behind me, flipping on the lights.

After changing into more comfortable clothes I leap into my bed and tangle myself up in my blankets. I feel better now knowing who my neighbor is. One question out of many about Magnolia has finally been answered and I can't wait for all of them to be answered as well. My eyes start fluttering shut and I doze off slowly but surely.

Not only am I in love with my teacher but I am also in love with my neighbor.


	12. Welcome, Lucy!

**This chapter is up so late and I'm incredibly sorry. I had a fever and I've just been really sick these past few days. But instead of going to the doctor, here I am writing my story..**

**I just want to say: I'm going to update the next chapter in a day or two so don't get mad! I just felt like ending it the way I did. muahaha.**

**There's a Pocky challenge in this chapter and if you don't know what that is, I recommend you go search it up. c':**

**Here is chapter 12!**

* * *

"Good morning, good morning!" Levy screeches from the other end of the call.

"Morning," I reply with a sleepy voice.

"Are you still in bed?" Levy's voice is as loud as a megaphone.

I look down at my body still inside the sheets, "No." My voice squeaks at my bluff.

"Lucy, if you're not at the station in forty-five minutes, your party is cancelled," she threatens.

I heave myself up, "I'm up."

"Good," I can hear Levy smiling. "Now go get ready."

She hangs up before I reply.

"Bossy," I mutter under my breath whilst getting ready.

I jump into random clothes and I'm prepared to leave in less than fifteen minutes. I'm rushing towards the station fearing that I won't make it in time. It takes approximately fifteen minutes to get to the station Levy is referring to. I wildly read the train schedules and sigh in relief. Three more minutes until the train is going arrive.

Standing behind the yellow line on the platform, I patiently wait. The clacking of the train gradually becomes louder and louder. I stride into the train and fall into one of the seats. It's not packed at all; I assume everybody is at work or sleeping in on the almost chilly Saturday morning.

The name of the station where Levy is waiting is announced and I rise from my seat, grabbing onto the poles so I don't fall down from the immediate stop trains constantly do. The stop where I'm departing is the one I use for school, thankfully. I definitely wouldn't know what to do if I had to get off at a random station.

"Lu-chan!" Levy dashes to me and hugs me.

"Lu-chan?" I echo.

She pulls away, "I just felt like calling you that. Call me Levy-chan."

"L-Levy," I stumble on my words. "Ch-ch-ch.."

After a few awkward moments of me trying to say her new nickname Levy smacks me on the shoulder, "You'll get used to it."

I frown and follow her out of the station. I notice her clothes.

"Your normal clothes look so cute!" I blurt out.

She turns to me, looking down at her orange dress, "Really?"

I nod as she blushes at my compliment.

Levy studies my blue and white outfit, "You, too!"

I trail next to Levy; we speak with each other with extreme excitement about tonight.

"This is my house," Levy stretches out her hands in front of a one story brick house. She widens the low steel fence door that reaches my knees. There's a short concrete pathway that leads to the porch. She opens the door for me.

"My parents aren't here and they won't be back until nighttime," Levy explains.

"Are you an only child?" I ask. There isn't a sound in the house except our footsteps.

"Unfortunately. I have a lot of friends, though, so it's okay!" She states optimistically.

I smile at her as I follow her into her room.

She doesn't turn on the light for her room, we take advantage of the natural light. Levy's room is decorated with handwritten words. On each of her four white walls are quotes in elegant cursive. I stand at her doorway just reading all the words. Each quote revolves around motivation and staying true to who you are.

"This is so embarrassing," Levy goes to her queen sized bed and sits down crisscrossed.

"How long did it take you to write all this?" I finally walk into her room.

"I add one every couple of months," she say humbly, picking off imaginary lint on her pillow.

Beside her closet is a black desk. Several picture frames lay on top of books. I look at all the pictures eagerly.

"When was this taken?" I hold up a picture with Levy smiling the widest smile I have ever seen. She stands next to Gajeel; he's not looking at the camera. He's looking down at her.

"Last year during the cultural festival," she raises herself to look at the pictures with me.

"When are the cultural festivals?" I question.

"I think it's around late October or beginning of November," she replies.

"It looks really fun," I accidentally say out loud.

"Did your old school have cultural festivals?"

I shake my head.

"What did your school even do?!" She shouts in anger.

"Nothing really," I return to looking at pictures.

There's another picture with her and Wendy drinking something out of plastic cups. Their eyebrows are scrunched and they do not seem like they're enjoying the drink. I giggle at their expressions.

"We were dared to drink unsweetened lemonade! It was horrible," Levy's face puckers up as if she is drinking it again.

"Who took these pictures, anyway?" I ask my last question before I get bothersome.

"Teachers. Gray-sensei took these two," she points at a picture with Juvia and the one with Levy. "And I'm not sure if you know her, but Mira-sensei took this one," she points at the one with Gajeel. "And finally, Natsu took this one."

I didn't notice the picture before Levy picked it up. It's the whole group. Levy, Juvia, and Wendy hold up peace signs while Gajeel is flinging knives at the camera with his crimson eyes. Romeo is smiling a small smile and Cana looks like she's smirking with that straw in her mouth.

"And this year.." Levy puts her finger between her and Juvia. "You're going to be here!"

I grin at her and the picture.

Staying at Levy's house for a few hours make her and I become closer. I feel comfortable with her and I feel like I'm able to tell her anything without worry. Except one touchy subject, of course. The more we speak the more I feel like I should tell her about Natsu.

"Do you get new teachers each year?" I ask.

"Yes. Some of them repeat, though. We don't have a lot of teachers at our school," Levy informs. "I had Gray-sensei, Lisanna-sensei, and Natsu last year."

"What was Natsu like last year?" The question leaves my lips before I'm able to catch it.

"Natsu?" She puts her hand on her chin. "He hasn't changed a lot, but last year he was heavy on the homework. This year he hasn't given us any. Not that I'm complaining."

So she doesn't get suspicious I ask about Gray-sensei.

"Also the same. He had this big rivalry with Natsu, though," she snickers. "They would compete on whose students had the best grades for the semester. They ended up in a tie."

I smile at the image of Natsu getting competitive.

"Do you think Juvia and Gray-sensei will get together?" I direct the conversation somewhere else.

"Maybe," she muses. "What do you think?"

"I really hope they do," I say. I feel the urge to encourage Juvia more than I should. I made it with Natsu, why can't Juvia make it with Gray-sensei?

"Lu-chan?" Levy's voice has turned serious. I slant my head at her tone. "Do you like someone?"

"No," I answer stiffly.

"You're lying," she says, although it sounds like she's trying to convince herself.

My shell shrouding my secret chips just slightly.

"It's complicated," I add.

She leans forward and grabs onto my hands, "Lu-chan, I consider you my best friend. Since you're my best friend I want to help you. Please let me help," she stares at me with hopeful eyes.

"Just give me some time, okay?" I swallow down all the remorse in my throat.

I know Levy doesn't want to but she nods, "Don't make me wait too long."

"I won't," I assure her.

* * *

It's evening by the time that we all meet up at the karaoke center. Levy and I are the first ones to show up. Gajeel shortly comes, followed by Romeo and Wendy. Juvia joins the group soon after. And Cana is weirdly enough speaking to Sting when they arrive. It's a bizarre feeling seeing everybody in their normal clothes. I notice they're all holding things inside plastic bags. I want to yell at Levy for not allowing me to bring something.

"Room for eight," Gajeel towers over the frightened man at the front desk.

His hand trembles as he hands Gajeel the room key, "P-Please enjoy your t-time."

The place isn't big, it's more long. The building has an entrance and a long hallway of rooms. When our group passes by each door, awful screeching is heard. The music is muffled while the 'singing' is the noisiest thing. I pray that nobody in our group sounds smiliar to scraping a chalkboard.

Our room is in the middle of the hallway on the left. We're in a line and I stand behind Levy while Juvia stands behind me. Gajeel unlocks the door and steps inside.

Levy wasn't lying when she said the room is spacious. There's plenty of space in the room we can even dance in the room if it wasn't for the table that's in the middle of the room.

On the right and left edges of the room are maroon couches. A wooden table sits in the middle of the room with beverage coasters placed under empty glasses. On the farthest wall hangs a flat-screen TV and below it is a small podium. On the podium sits a screen with a stylus. I assume the stylus is used to tap on which song one wants to sing. Next to the screen are two microphones.

I'm at the left side of the room and I watch everyone that stood behind me come in. Sting comes over to me and sits beside me, I politely smile at him. My eyes haven't adjusted to the dimly lit room yet so I can't tell if Sting smiles back.

After everyone has settled down into their spot we take out the food that was in the bags. They all brought so much food it's a finger food feast. It ranges from Pocky to mozzarella sticks. We all fill up our glasses with soda and before we take a sip of it Levy boosts herself up and clears her throat.

"I would like to make a toast!" She raises her glass in the air. "Lu-chan is one of the coolest girls I have met and even though she's awkward she's still my best friend. May we still be friends for many years to come!"

"That was cheesy," I laugh.

"Whatever. Anyway, welcome, Lucy!" She clinks her cup with mine.

"Welcome, Lucy!" They all repeat in unison, gently hitting the tips of their cups together with others.

Sting and I hit our glasses together with huge smiles on our faces.

"Who wants to sing first?" I ask everyone, we all look at each other with wide eyes.

"Nose goes!" Levy shouts childishly, placing a finger on her nose.

I quickly push my index finger against my nose, watching everyone else do the same. Juvia is the only one who hasn't put her finger against her nose.

"Juvia felt frozen," she pouts, reluctantly getting up from her seat.

She walks to the podium and leans down to pick a song. She picks up one of the microphones and taps it to see if it's on. After a few Juvia mumbles she straightens herself and walks back to her seat. It's awkwardly silent.

A familiar melody begins to play and her voice is shaky when the lyrics come in. Gradually over the song she gets more confidence and her smooth singing fills the room. I'm quite envious of how great she can sing. We all clap as she returns the microphone to the podium.

"Wendy and Romeo should do a duet," Cana suggests with her usual smirk.

"After Cana sings," Levy hauls Cana to the podium.

After a few protests, Cana squirms in her seat as the song plays. She's holding onto the microphone with two wobbly hands. She opens her mouth and starts singing, a soft-almost girlish-sound flows out of her.

"Okay, that's enough," she states while putting the microphone down to its original place after her song.

"Do we really have to go?" Wendy asks the group, using her innocent eyes as her escape.

As much as it all pains us to say yes to those unadulterated eyes, we nod.

The couple goes up to the screen and whisper to each other on which song to sing. After scrolling through a few titles, they tap on one, grab a microphone, and go back to their seats next to each other.

The song is fast-paced and my heart jumps a bit in fear. I fear that Wendy won't be able to keep up with it. The quick tempo smoothly, and surprisingly, transitions into a steady beat. Wendy's voice sounds like it's coming from a child. Right when it's Romeo's part the song turns back to fast and upbeat. I can't imagine Romeo singing whatsoever and I'm not surprised he doesn't. He raps and he's good at it. He's a natural at it, every rhyme pouring out of his mouth like he does it for a living. I'm amazed.

After the refreshing duet, Levy tugs me up and out of my seat. She hands me a microphone not even letting me see the songs available. She smiles a smile that says, "It'll be okay!" I already know it won't be.

"I read books for a reason," I warn the group.

There may be a possibility Levy was looking through my music earlier, because my favorite Fairy Tail song booms out of the speakers. I take a deep breath to prepare myself to sing and all my nervousness drifts away. I'm reminded of Natsu and I at the store.

The song plays and I sing as if I was in the shower. Levy sings with me, putting an arm around me as we sing the most well-known lyric in the song, "Don't say goodbye!"

I'm out of breath when the song ends, I chug down water. I fan myself and look at the people who haven't sang yet; Sting and Gajeel.

"Go, Sting," Cana pushes him although he's still sitting down. His chin bumps into my shoulder.

"Sorry," he apologizes, his icy eyes wide.

He clumsily shuffles to the podium. He turns around at us, looking at me first.

"What do I sing?"

Everyone calls out song titles and he stares at us blankly.

I take the initiative and help him. I lean down next to him, our faces dangerously close. I skim through the log and a song catches my eye. I hover the stylus over the song and just as I'm about to tap on it Sting's large hand wraps over mine and holds onto it.

"I'm not doing that song," he refuses.

I push my hand down, his hand shaking at trying to hold it up so the stylus doesn't come in contact with the screen. His hand slips and the pen clicks the song. I give him a sly smile and go back next to Levy.

Sting thumps his knee against mine when he sits down. I give him a thumbs up.

He sings, his sleek voice soaking the room. The song is originally performed by a woman but his voice fits perfectly. Almost _too_ perfectly.

Gajeel hasn't uttered a word since we started singing. I thought for a while he was sleeping, but now that I notice it seems as if he's meditating. Right when Sting song ends, Gajeel shoots up and snatches away the microphone from Sting. Sting looks at me incredoulously.

My eyes have adapted to the lighting in the room for a while now but I feel as if the lights become even more dim. He's not even up at the front for a minute. He quickly returns to Levy's side and hangs his head down; his long hair masking his face.

Here I am, readying myself for the intense rock music to play, but a soft jazz song plays. Gajeel lifts his head to sing, his eyes closed. The second a hum comes from him everybody's jaw drops. My breath is taken away by him. I listen to him with my mouth still opened.

I have never heard something so unpleasant in my life. His raspy voice sounds like he has twenty frogs in his throat and they're trying to help him sing. He uses unnecessary acapella noises such as, "Shoo bee doo baa!" I want to beg him to stop singing for the rest of his life but I'm in so much shock I can't move. The song stops and Gajeel finally opens his eyes to see our faces.

"Go, Gajeel!" Juvia is the only one applauding. I cough with the others.

"I can sing some more," Gajeel offers.

"No!" We scream simultaneously.

He shrugs despite being a bit offended. I never want to hear his howling again in my life.

Before it gets quiet Levy comes to the rescue and goes to the podium, plays a random song, and turns around to us.

"Let's play a game!" She goes to the table and holds up a plastic cup with popsicle sticks.

"Here we have eight sticks," she shakes the cup in a circle. "Each stick as a number on it. The person who has the number one on it is named King for the round. The King has the power to order two numbers—without knowing who they are—to do something. After they've done what they are told, we return the sticks back into the cup and start again."

"What happens if we don't do what we're told?" Cana asks.

Levy's eyes go dark, "You must do what the king says."

She passes the cup to everyone and I pull out a stick with the number four on it. I sigh, I wanted to be king.

"I'm King!" Levy holds her stick in the air.

"Of course you are," Cana mutters.

"What did you say, servant?" Levy asks like as if she's a real king.

"Nothing," Cana says, she sounds slightly afraid.

"I order number five to fill their mouth with as many cheese balls as they can," Levy points at the bag of cheese balls on the table.

Cana's loud groan makes all of us laugh.

Just as Cana is about to pop one more cheese ball inside, nine of them fall out of her mouth into a bag. She smiles at us, her pearly whites now a cheesy yellow.

Since Cana has suffered enough, she does the shuffling of the sticks by moving them around. She grabs one and passes it around until we all have a stick.

"King!" Juvia announces. She looks around at the leftover food on the table. "I order number three and eight to do the Pocky challenge!"

We're quiet as we find out who those people are. I mentally sigh in happiness because I'm number five. Romeo and Wendy hold up their sticks, signaling that they are number three and eight.

Juvia and Levy squeal and I press my lips together, a small smile forming on my face.

They have no other choice but to do the challenge, since Levy's expression earlier left such an impression on all of us.

Romeo slides a chocolate Pocky stick out of the box and bites the end of the stick. Wendy, with a violently blushing face, leans in and bites the other end.

"King allows you to kiss at the end," Juvia adds as soon as they start nibbling the ends.

They stop and slowly turn their heads to Juvia, making sure they don't break the Pocky. Romeo's face is just as pink as Wendy's. They're millimeters away from each other; Levy and I lean in closer to them to see if they're really going to kiss. Wendy is getting ready to break off the piece so she doesn't kiss Romeo, but he quickly presses his lips against hers and bites off the last bit of the Pocky. He licks his lips, his eyes watching her closely. Wendy's eyes grow and she looks at all of us. She drops her head in her hands in what looks like defeat.

"Get used to it, kids," Cana tells them, making Wendy flush harder.

"Please don't ever bring this up," Wendy pleads us.

We all assure her we won't, though I know we're going to remind her about it again just to see her priceless facial expression.

We get new sticks again and I want to break my stick because I'm not king.

"King," Sting says.

We all look at him think and he looks like he's having trouble on finding an order.

"I order number two to drink as much water as they can," Sting orders except he doesn't have much confidence.

"Good thing Juvia loves water," she shows she is number two.

I thought Juvia was only going to drink about seven cups at most, but she's drinking so much water that we made a system to get the cups to her faster.

"Why isn't this fun anymore?" Gajeel grumbles loud enough for us to hear.

"Okay, that's enough," Sting tells her after we've all gotten tired of giving her water.

"More water!" She demands.

"It's okay!" We persuade her.

I receive a new stick again for the new round and I'm engulfed in happiness.

"King!" I yell. I scan everyone's face and attempt to think of what I should order. "I order number two to sit on number six's lap."

Two sticks go up in the air. It's Levy and Sting. Everybody's mouth falls, including mine.

Gajeel is the first to react. He merely stands up, reaches over to Sting's stick, grabs it, and gives his stick to Sting.

"I'm number six now," Gajeel says.

"No, Gajeel.." Levy stops to realize what's happening. "_I'm_ number six."

Seeing a man that's as large as a building sit on top of a small petite girl is probably the funniest thing I've seen. I burst out laughing, using Sting's shoulder as my support. I have a tear running down my face when it's over.

"You're a terrible king," Levy whines.

"Thanks, King," Gajeel sneers.

After chuckling some more about Levy getting squished we decide to do our last round. We're all exhausted from the singing and laughing.

"King," Gajeel breaks his stick with one hand since we have no use to the sticks anymore. "I order number seven and eight to kiss."

I look down at my stick and my heart jumps. I'm number eight. I slowly raise my stick into the air.

I turn my heard to everyone else and nobody has put their stick up in the air. I feel more and more anxious each second.

There's a movement close to me and a stick is up. I look at the owner of the stick.

I whip my head to Gajeel and back to the person several times. I go back to Gajeel.

"I'm supposed to kiss _Sting_?"


	13. What Now?

**This chapter is short, I know. :C ****But I couldn't fit/add anymore things to it anymore! And I said I would update this quickly. **

**Some important things happened in this chapter, though.. If I was the reader for this fanfic I would send hate mail to the author. Not even kidding.**

**THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR FOLLOWING THIS STORY. Almost 100 followers and I couldn't be more happy. C: Thank you all!**

**Enjoy chapter 13~**

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"Is Sting number seven?" Gajeel leans forward so he can look at Sting beside me.

Sting gives a small nod, not saying a word.

"Then yeah, Blondie, you have to kiss him," Gajeel slouches down into the couch, making himself comfortable by putting his hands on the back of his head.

The only noise in the room is soft instrumental music. I wish everyone would speak so there wouldn't be an uncomfortable tension floating in the air.

"Just get it over with already," Cana urges.

I look at Sting with pleading eyes. I can't kiss him. I want to protest to this whole thing but it would make me look childish.

"Okay," I straighten myself and rotate my torso to face Sting.

Sting cups my cheek and I have to force myself from jerking away. He brushes his thumb across my jaw.

"We can't see," I hear Cana say behind Sting.

"That's the point," he replies smoothly. His cobalt eyes are so focused on me I wouldn't be surprised if he can see my soul.

His breaths become closer and closer to me. I cannot only hear them now, I also feel them. I notice my breaths are becoming heavier. I can't see anything except Sting's face and for some odd reason, I feel tears begging to come out of my eyes.

Sting's lips are soft and light. It doesn't feel like I'm kissing anything at all, but the tenderness of his lips tell me they're there.

I've been told plenty of times that one's first kiss is going to have a spark and one is going to be able to physically feel the love. It'll be like fireworks and as soon as the couple of parts, on impulse they'll kiss again.

I'm not feeling any of it whatsoever. Not even a speck of it. I feel mildly disgusted. I also feel lips, of course, but nothing special. When Sting pulls away I want to go to the restroom and wipe off the kiss. Everybody's stares have glued me to my seat.

The music and talking have stopped. The stillness is interrupted by a knock on the door. Juvia reaches for the door and opens it.

"Your time is now up, I hope you all come again," the man from the front desk tells us, he looks at everyone in the room except Gajeel.

"We will!" Levy surges up from her seat, grabbing all the leftover food from the table. Everyone helps out by putting all the empty wrappers and plastic trays in the trash.

"I'm going to go to the restroom," I say to the group before we walk outside. I pivot back around and enter the restroom, hurriedly walking to the sink. I cup my hand and it fills up with water. I splash it on my lips, wiping off anything that was on it. As I'm washing my hands I hear someone come in. I look up at the mirror and watch who it is.

"Are you okay?" Levy asks with pure concern.

I nod, "I felt a little shaken up."

"I'm so sorry I didn't say anything. I didn't want to make a big deal about it. Are you mad at me?" She's oblivious to the small pout that is forming on her face.

I sigh as I dry my hands and throw the damp paper towel in the trash can. I place a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not mad. Don't beat yourself up about it," I smile at her as I assure her.

Levy lunges at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I return the hug, giggling at how afraid she was.

We meet up with our group outside. It's already dark, it must be around nine o'clock. We form a circle so we can all speak with each other.

"Let's do this again sometime," I say.

We all agree that we will be back so we can humiliate ourselves again.

"I'm going this way," Levy points behind her, Gajeel already following her without anything.

"We're going this way," Wendy speaks for Romeo and Juvia while pointing to another direction.

"I'm going this way," Sting, Cana, and I say together.

We all wave to each other and begin to walk to our directions. Our path is solely being lit up by street lamps.

Just as I'm about to make conversation Cana speaks up.

"I have to go meet someone so I'll see you guys later," she walks in front of us and quickly turns a corner.

"Is it safe for a girl to be walking at night?" I ask Sting.

"Let's hope so," he replies.

Sting walks with me at my pace. Our steps are in sync, I look down as our feet move. I'm not sure what to say first, so I wait for him to start the conversation.

"Lucy," Sting says my name with such a serious tone it makes me stop walking.

"What?"

"Did you feel anything when we kissed?" He questions with hopeful eyes.

My heartbeat quickens. How am I supposed to tell him I didn't feel anything at all?

"Did you feel anything?" I inquire.

"You know that feeling everybody talks about when you kiss someone? Electricity and everything?" He leans closer to me.

I take a step back, "What of it?"

"I felt that," he says.

I don't say anything back to him. I go back to walking.

"You didn't feel it," Sting states out loud for us.

_Are you really going to make me say it?_

I shake my head, not looking at him. I don't want to see the disappointment on his face.

"I guess I'll have to try harder next time!" He declares.

I whirl my head to him with an incredulous look.

"Sting, I don't—"

"Don't," he cuts me off, his voice a mere whisper. He looks straight ahead, "Just let me have this hope for a while."

I feel a twinge of pain enter my chest. Before I can say anymore he speaks in a rush.

"I have to stop by some place around here. Be careful on your way home, goodnight," he doesn't wait for me to respond.

"Goodnight," I say even though I can't see him anymore.

The buzzing of the street lamps is what accompanies me throughout my walk to the train station. It's the last train of the night so it's empty. I don't mind the somewhat eerie silence, it's like life is giving me a few seconds to breathe.

I step off at my train station and go to the direction my apartment is. There are a few people in the streets it doesn't feel as lonely now. I feel a vibrating in my bag. I read the caller ID and butterflies immediately enter my stomach.

"Hey," I can't stop smiling.

"Hey, Luce," Natsu says on the other end of the call. "Did you have fun at karaoke?"

"Yeah, I did! I'm walking home from it right now, actually," I reply.

"Really? Let's meet up," his voice is low. Has his voice always been this deep?

"Sure. Where at?" I look at the street signs around me.

"The park?" He suggests.

"Okay, I'll be there in five minutes," I feel my legs start moving faster than usual.

I'm at the park in two minutes. Why is it that I'm always so eager to see this guy? I will never be able to understand.

The only light in the park is by the playground. I head over to the swings and plop down into one that is higher up from the ground than most. Soon enough, I hear footsteps nearby. Natsu steps into the light and he grins at me, sitting down next to me.

"It feels weird not seeing you all day," Natsu looks at me like as if we haven't seen each other in years.

"Did you miss me that much?" I wink playfully at him.

"Yes," he replies simply.

My face heats up, "How can you say that so easily?"

"I say what I feel, that's it," he shrugs, trying to adjust himself on the swing to get more comfortable.

"You must feel weird because you look weird on that swing," I try not to laugh at his small struggles.

He furrows his eyebrows at me, "The last time I was on one of these things was twelve years ago."

"Let's just go sit on that bench," I rise from the swing and help him up. He grabs onto my hand and pulls himself up; he doesn't let go of it.

"So what did you do at karaoke?" Natsu asks, clearly enjoying sitting on a bench instead of a swing.

"Sing," I reply.

Natsu gives me an annoyed look that makes me grin.

"We played a game, too," I continue. "We basically got to order people around to do things."

"Like what?"

"Like drink as much water as you can or do the Pocky challenge. Stuff like that," I explain to him.

"Was anybody ordered to kiss or something?" He asks without much interest.

I freeze, but not long enough for Natsu to notice.

"Thankfully not," I feel guilty as soon as the lie comes out of my mouth. I have to tell Natsu that I was kissed by Sting.

"Good. You all shouldn't be kissing at this age," he uses an over-exaggerated adult voice.

I laugh, "They do it, anyway."

"I don't want to see it," Natsu sticks his tongue out in disgust.

The subject makes me wonder. Are Natsu and I going to kiss soon? Holding hands and hugging is just as good, but the greedy part of me wants more. But do I even have the right to kiss Natsu when I was just kissed by another person? Shame keeps building up inside me each moment.

"Hey, Natsu," I squeeze his hand.

"Hmm?" He hums to me, his dark eyes looking straight into mine.

I stare into his black eyes and millions of thoughts swim inside my mind at once. How is Natsu going to react to this? Is he going to be mad? Certainly he will, nobody wants their significant other to be kissed by another person. I feel afraid.

"Nevermind," I smile at him.

"Weirdo," he bumps his forehead against mine lightly.

We speak to each other for at least an hour. The temperature is starting to drop with the leaves. A slight chill runs down mine spine and I take that as a sign saying it's time to go home.

"Goodnight," I say as he drops me off at my door, my voice muffled by his embrace.

"Be ready by mid-afternoon tomorrow," he tightens the hug and releases me.

I unlock my door and give him one more smile and enter my apartment. As soon as Natsu's face leaves my sight, the guilt already latching itself onto my emotions spreads.

"Tomorrow I'll tell him," I gingerly slap my cheeks, preparing myself for what's to come.

Tomorrow will be my first date with Natsu. My first date ever. And as if this is a regular thing now, I add another sleepless night to my list due to excitement.


	14. First Date

**Wow this chapter was a pain in the butt to write! I'm glad I finished it. c':**

**Incredibly sorry if I disappointed anyone. **

**I'm going to be publishing a new story that revolves around an online love soon. Can I handle two stories at the same time? Let's hope so.**

**Enjoy this chapter!**

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It feels unfamiliar waking up naturally rather than being woken up by an alarm clock or a friend. I yawn as I stretch my hands up to the ceiling.

I tread to the kitchen, sluggishly creating myself a cup of coffee. I sip the warm drink while wrapping myself up in a blanket on the couch. The cold weather is definitely making itself comfortable in Magnolia now.

Before I know it, I'm opening my door for my apartment to leave for the date.

"Hey there," Natsu greets at my door.

I smile at him and I glance at his clothes. His regular clothes compared to his work clothes always look so much better. I'm thankful we're both dressing casual for the date. I was afraid that I was under dressed.

We step down the stairs together and I follow him to wherever we're going. I'm not surprised Natsu doesn't hold onto my hand. There's more people outside so we are putting ourselves at a higher risk at being seen. I'm walking beside him but we have a distance between us. As much as it bothers me, I keep the distance.

In addition to the separation, we don't speak to each other. We sneak little peeks at each other but we don't utter a word. Not even while we're waiting for the train to come. And not when we sit down and watch other passengers get on or off.

The silence makes my mind wander off. Sting floats his way into my thoughts. I feel my heart skip a beat. I need to tell him sometime today.

I turn my head towards Natsu and look at him. He looks straight ahead with a blank expression. I see the edge of a motion sickness patch hiding behind his ear. I try not to laugh out loud.

The train ride is longer than I assumed it was going to be. The silence is killing me. I take a look around the train and there is for sure not one person on here that would recognize us. Just as I'm about to speak, Natsu beats me to it.

"That was terrible," he sighs. He scoots closer to me, reaching for my hand.

"I wish we didn't have to do that," I missed the warmth of his hand.

"We have to, if we didn't we'd be in trouble," he reminds me.

I sigh and look out the window, "Where are we going?"

"The town is called Hargeon," he answers.

I've heard about the place while arriving to Magnolia. As expected, I haven't been there.

I ask more questions about the town but Natsu doesn't answer them. It's as if he wants me to become friends with suspense.

The second Natsu and I exit the train an ocean aroma wafts in my nose.

"Is there an ocean here?" I ask, while looking around the station. It's completely different from the one in Magnolia. It almost has a medieval feel to it, having white stones as the ground. I'm sure the town has a history.

"Good nose," he pokes my nose while pulling me along with him.

I use Natsu as my guide as I gape at all the tall buildings. There aren't streets here like there are in Magnolia. There are only wide pathways of white stone with buildings and little shops on the sides. It's like Natsu and I used a time machine and went back in time.

"This place is beautiful," I say in awe.

"I used to come here a lot," he replies.

Thinking of Natsu as a teenager roaming this place makes my heart flutter. I ache to know how he acted as a teenager.

"Let's go eat something."

We walk in a restaurant and slide into a booth with an almost tacky orange color as the seats. I feel jittery. Am I nervous because this is my first date or because of the situation with Sting that keeps coming into my mind? I side with the date scenario for now.

I order a simple sandwich. I begin to think of how I'm going to tell Natsu about Sting. I don't realize I'm in a trance until I feel a gentle nudge under the table.

"What are you thinking about?" Natsu asks with a straw at the edge of his mouth.

"Nothing," I squeak.

With a confused look he resumes blowing inside his straw into the drink, creating small bubbles. I watch the bubbles pop and return back to liquid. Maybe this silence means I can tell him now?

I open my mouth but my voice doesn't work.

_Why can't I say it?_

"Here is your food," a waitress places down our plates on the table.

I bite the sandwich and a smile places itself onto my face.

"The food here is great," I say after taking another bite of it.

"I once ate so much food here they gave it to me for free because it was going to cost too much," he chuckles at the memory.

I watch Natsu eat. Each time we eat together, I notice he doesn't eat with his hands. He uses a fork and knife. I can't imagine him stuffing his face with food using a fork and knife.

"The first time I came here was to look for my dad," Natsu starts, looking out at the window. "I haven't told you this, but my dad abandoned me when I was 13."

I stop eating to stare at him. He has a painful past, too.

"What about your mom?" I inquire, wishing that he had something good to look back on.

"Never met her," he states bluntly.

"Well, if it makes you feel better," I attempt to console. "My mom died when I was seven and my dad hates me."

Natsu gives me a side glance, not turning his head away from the window. His lips have a slight curve to it, "That doesn't make me feel better." He reaches over the table and entwines his fingers with mine. "We both have rough pasts, huh," he gives my hand a squeeze.

I look down at our connected hands and nod.

We pay for our food. He pays for the meal and like always, I pay for the dessert.

The time is ticking close to sunset and Natsu tugs me with him. The ocean smell becomes stronger with each step we take. I feel more and more excited because I've only seen the ocean a few times in my life.

We're walking in between so many similar buildings it's a maze. When I look up, all I see is the pink sky. The buildings make the ground covered in shadows. Eventually, we manage to leave the labyrinth of buildings. The walk is completely worth it. The view to the ocean is stunning.

Half of the beach has a system of ports. I didn't think that supplies was still shipped by sea, but this town does it. The other half is filled with sand and open for the public.

"It's too cold to go in the water," Natsu tells me.

I nod in understanding. The breeze blowing by is chillier than usual.

To get to the sand and water there are steps to reach it. There's a nearby ledge by the stairs. Natsu and I sit on the edge, letting our feet dangle in the air.

"The ocean is sparkling," I watch the glittering waves.

He leans back on his hands, "The ocean reminds me of you."

"How so?" I give him a confused look.

"The ocean is pretty on the outside," he looks anywhere and everywhere except at me. "But once you search deep into it, you'll find beauty most people never see."

I lean my head against his shoulder, "Thank you."

A random gust of wind blows past us. Chills rise on my bare arms, I use Natsu's arm as warmth.

"Why are you so warm?" I notice the heat coming from him.

"I have an unnatural body temperature," his shoulder underneath my head rises a little and then falls back down.

"Weird," I state.

Natsu straightens his back it makes me have to lift my head. He begins to remove his scarf around his neck. He looks at me and wraps the scarf around my neck.

"Natsu, your neck—"

"It'll be fine," he assures, fixing the scarf so it's the way he wears it.

The skin at my neck tingles where his finger skimmed over it.

With an uncertain glance I look back the ocean. The simmers have left the water now.

I soak in Natsu's smell. His overall smell is soap but then there's a touch of cologne. On top of those two smells, there's another lingering smell. It must be his own natural scent.

_Tell him now._

I turn my head to Natsu and I take a deep breath. This has dragged on long enough now.

"Hey, Natsu," my voice is uneven.

"Yeah, Luce?"

My heart pounds at his nickname for me. Why did he have to use it now?

"So, yesterday at karaoke," I begin. "You know that game I talked about?"

He nods.

"And you know how you asked if anybody got dared to kiss anyone?"

He nods again.

"When I said nobody got dared, I lied. A guy named Sting was dared to kiss someone."

"Who did Sting kiss?" Natsu recognizes the name.

"Me," I breathe out.

Natsu's blank expression pains me more than it should. What expression should I see, anyway?

I look down at my hands in my lap. I don't want to him to see how pathetic I am.

"Lucy," he says with such a somber tone it makes my heart throb. "How would you feel if I told you I kissed another woman?"

"I'd feel angry and hurt," I raise my head and answer without a second thought.

He nods, "Exactly."

"I'm so sorry," my voice cracks.

Natsu's eyes become warmer and a small chuckle leaves his lips. He leans into me and envelops me in a hug that increases my urge to cry. As Natsu is pulling away, I feel a light spark on my cheek. My eyes widen.

"Aren't you mad?" I touch my cheek where he just kissed me.

"Extremely," he replies.

"Why aren't you showing it?" I ask even though I'm contradicting myself.

"Do you want me to show you how uncool I look when I'm angry?" He furrows his eyebrows.

"No," I sigh loudly. "Who knew saying that would be so hard?"

"Yeah," he says distantly.

We don't speak after that for a while. We walk back to the train station and return to Magnolia in silence. The jittery feeling is replaced by an uneasy one. Natsu's silence never fails to make me worried. We are also mute when we're walking home. Each time I steal a glance at him, his eyes are deep in thought. We reach our doors and I break the silence.

"Thanks for lending me this," I unwrap the scarf and neatly hand it to him.

He eyes his scarf and then me. He steps forward and gives me a swift hug. It only lasts a second but the feeling after it makes my heartbeat speed up. In that small second not only had he hugged me but he gave me a small peck on the forehead.

"Night, Luce," he unlocks his door and shuts it. I'm left outside, my feet are nailed to the ground.

_I'm a terrible person._

And as school starts again tomorrow, I subconsciously trot back to square one. Entering school brimming with anxiety.


	15. More Troubles

**I've been really busy these past few days and it makes me sad. **

**So I decided when to publish my new story! Love At First Site will be posted June 27. ^‿^ ****I'd love if some of you read it along with this story.**

**And this story now has more than 100 followers now and I can't even express how thankful I am. **

**Enough of me speaking, enjoy chapter 15, everyone.**

* * *

"Good morning, Lu-chan!" Levy yells at the top of her lungs while sitting down at her seat beside me in our first class.

I yawn, "Good morning."

"You need to sleep earlier," she whines at my dull greeting.

"I couldn't sleep last night," I admit.

It's true. Last night was by far one of the worst nights I have experienced since I came to Magnolia. I was overwhelmed with uneasiness. I couldn't keep still. Flipping on my sides like a fish in my bed, I thought of multiple situations that might happen due to my mistake with Sting. I am not ready to see Natsu later today.

"You guys are all out of shape," Lisanna playfully lectures us after reviewing geometry problems.

I have to bite my tongue from laughing. It seems like Levy and I are the only ones who are entertained by Lisanna's puns. Before Lisanna is able to crack another joke the bell rings and the class files out in a hurry.

"Keep making jokes, Lisanna-sensei," I whisper to her while exiting. She grins at me and nods energetically.

As usual, I turn my back towards Levy and Gajeel and let them do their thing. I close my eyes and hum to myself, letting my thoughts drift away. Regularly, they don't speak for a long time but today it goes on longer. I open my eyes so I can urge them to hurry but instead I freeze like a deer looking into headlights.

Natsu is in the middle of walking beside me as I open my eyes. We make eye contact and his arm grazes my shoulder.

"Let's go now," Levy says, preventing me from turning around to see Natsu.

I ignore the itch on my back that pleads me to look back and go to my next class. Cana meets with us with a smile across her face.

"Somebody is looking happy," Levy points out.

"What happened with you and Sting after I left?" Cana asks excitedly.

"He had to stop by somewhere in the area so nothing really," I respond, regaining unwanted memories.

"You left Lucy and Sting?" Levy exclaims to Cana.

She nods proudly, "After that kiss I had to let them be alone. And anyway, Bacchus wanted me to come over."

Before Levy bursts in anger I interrupt her.

"I got home fine and that's all that matters," I say.

"Men!" Elf-sensei does his daily howl.

We follow his ridiculous orders and thankfully lunch comes by quickly. I plop down in my seat with my tray and begin listening to everyone speak.

I eat my food silently. My eyes wander around the cafeteria and I notice Gray-sensei trying to juggle three apples. Walking beside him holding three apples as well is Natsu. They juggle the apples simultaneously, both having the same concentrated facial expression. Before they leave the cafeteria they both drop an apple on the ground and they run to pick it up from the ground.

"Why are you smiling, Lucy?" Wendy asks.

I look at everybody else as I somehow grabbed their attention, "I saw someone eating funny."

"Juvia wants to see!" She raises herself from the table and stretches her neck out to look for the nonexistent person.

After many questions later, Levy, Juvia, and I enter ceramics and sit in our stations.

"Our bowls!" Levy reminds us, surging up from her seat and skipping to where the bowls are.

I hold onto my bowl and take it back to my seat. It's too small to hold anything inside of it so I decide I'm going to use it as decoration. Even after the project is over Levy still won't allow us to view her bowl.

"We're going to start a new project today," Gray-sensei holds up a white sphere.

"I want you all to sculpt something that you enjoy about a season. I picked winter and during that season I like to throw snowballs," he tosses the ball from one hand to another.

He shoos us off, strolling past our stations and watching over us. I have to snap my fingers in front of Juvia's face when I see drool hanging off the edge of her mouth.

I love all seasons equally so I choose to pick the current season. I begin to make my clay into a leaf shape.

"Why a leaf?" Gray-sensei squints at my lump of clay.

"It's the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of fall," I explain.

As he nods I feel lasers being aimed at me. I turn my head towards Juvia to see her eyes a deathly red. Gray-sensei turns his head to see what I'm looking at and Juvia instantly goes back to her regular cute face.

"What are you doing, Juvia?" He walks to Juvia and bends towards her already formed clay. I can physically see the hearts popping out of her eyes.

I don't pay attention to their conversation as I'm too busy trying to get my breaths back.

"Juvia knows how to scare people," I tell Levy breathlessly.

"She gets a little jealous sometimes," Levy defends.

"No kidding," I reply, going back to my project.

My next classes never seem to be in my favor. When I beg the class gods to make the class go by fast, they make the class seem to be three hours long. And when I do not want the class to go by fast, it flies by like a race car. Today is one of those race car days.

I step into English with Levy and we sit in our seats waiting for class to start. The bell chimes and I see all the seats are occupied except one.

Natsu soon enters the class and I stare at each movement he makes. I can't tear my eyes away from him.

"Good afternoon," he says, not looking at us but at the board.

Today is a lecture day and everybody's shoulders slump. As everyone's slump, I feel myself sitting up. Listening to Natsu speak I can tell he's more distant than usual. His voice seems forced and he doesn't want to be here.

In the midst of his lecture a loud knock comes from the door. Natsu strides to the door and opens it. Sting is at the doorway with a blank expression.

"I had a makeup test to do," he takes a step in the classroom.

"Just go to your seat," Natsu says almost ignoring Sting. He goes back to the front of the class and continues his lecture.

As Sting goes to his desk, our eyes lock. He gives me a small smile.

"Why is Natsu so grumpy?" Levy whispers to me.

I don't respond, I stare down at my desk. Never in my life have I ever felt this guilty and uptight.

After Sting's arrival, I let myself zone out like everyone else in the room. As the bell dismisses us I'm reminded of the rooftop. I start to rehearse all the different ways I can apologize to Natsu.

"See you tomorrow, Lu-chan," Levy swiftly hugs me and waves. Gajeel nods and the couple walks away together.

I hike up the stairs and turn the doorknob. It feels like I haven't been up here in ages.

Turning the corner to get to the ladder, I look down at the chairs. Waiting for Natsu while sitting in a chair seems boring today so I go for the platform. I climb up the metal rungs and lay on my stomach. While I open my book to where I placed my bookmark a few days ago, a smile dances on my lips. Speaking with Natsu is just as good as reading, but I will admit I missed getting lost in the world of books.

My mind is empty now, somehow the mental rehearsings have flown out of my head. It's like my mind is begging to be completely blank so much that it doesn't even want words placed inside of it. I read my book even though I'm not processing any of it.

My patience is dangerously low now. I check my phone's time and see that it has been an hour since school ended. I blink a few times, refusing to let tears fall out. Natsu isn't going to come.

I step down from the platform and back downstairs. Ever since the two teachers had said only teachers are allowed at the rooftop, I always peek out of the door to make sure the hallway is clear. I do the same thing today since it has developed into a habit.

Gently closing the door behind me, I go through the vacant hallways to get out of school. I'm turning the last right corner to exit and I collide with someone.

"Hey, Lucy!" Lisanna says happily. "What are you doing here so late?"

I smile at her and my body goes numb when I see who is beside her. Natsu looks at me with wide eyes.

"I was waiting for someone but I think something came up," I answer, my eyes flickering to Natsu for a nanosecond.

"Well, that's too bad. Get home safely, alright?" She pats me on the shoulder and goes past me. Natsu doesn't bat an eye in my direction and follows Lisanna silently.

I'm paralyzed. I look over my shoulder and watch their backs as they get to the end of the hallway. They're laughing and I see Lisanna giving Natsu's shoulder a light push. I catch a glimpse of Natsu's face.

He looks happy.


	16. And It Goes On

**I didn't want to rush things but I did, whoops. **

**I just want to let everyone know that this story is not going to be ending any time soon. I have lots of things in store for this bad boy. C: **

**Enjoy this chapter that took me sweat, tears, and love to write~**

* * *

The image of Natsu's smiling face replays in my mind like a movie that never finishes. Does he look that way with me? Do I not have the ability to make him happy? All these questions flood inside my head but I know they will never be answered.

I tread to the station and wait for the next train to arrive. There's a tap on my shoulder.

"Why are you sad?" Sting immediately asks.

"I don't want to explain it," I turn my head to him and he's closer than I thought he would be. I can see the blue swirls in his eyes. I avert my gaze and stare at the tracks.

"Then don't," he replies. We stand next to each other and wait for the train. I can feel his arm right beside my shoulder. I'm completely absorbed in my thoughts that I don't realize the train is here.

"Come on, Lucy," Sting gently pulls me by my wrist.

I look down at his warm hand. He releases it when we sit down and it falls to his side.

"Sorry! It won't happen again," he apologizes as I'm still blankly viewing my wrist.

I remain silent, I know whatever response I give him won't do any good. He doesn't complain and surprisingly, he puts up with my dull mood for the whole ride.

"It's time for me to go now," Sting announces as the train starts slowing down. "Bye, Lucy."

I watch him raise himself by holding onto the pole and step to the door. The doors start opening and he looks back at me.

"I hope someday you can tell me what you're thinking," he leaves the train without waiting to hear a response from me.

My station soon comes and I walk back to my apartment. The pain that I feel now is almost the same amount of pain I felt the day Natsu suggested we should forget everything that happened. Who knew the person I love most would bring me the most pain?

I get to the stairs of my apartment and as I get to my floor Mirajane is in the middle of unlocking her door.

"Hello, Lucy," she gives me a sweet smile. "We haven't talked in a while, why don't you come in?"

"Sure," I accept her offer and enter her apartment. Being alone doesn't sound like a good idea at the moment.

"I'm going to change but I'll be right back!" Mirajane hurriedly dashes to her room.

I roam around the living room and examine all the picture frames that are hanged on all the walls. Some of them are solely Mirajane and some of them are only of Lisanna. The majority of the pictures are all the three siblings together for the most part.

I find a picture that nearly makes me smile. It's Mirajane in a blue graduation gown. She looks completely the same but the date on the corner of the picture shows it was taken eight years ago. She still looks how she looked eight years ago, it's remarkable.

Beside Mirajane's graduation photo is Lisanna's. This was taken six years ago. Just like her sister, she hasn't aged a day. I notice myself observing Lisanna's picture more than I did with Mirajane's. Before I'm about to look away I notice something in the background of the picture. Natsu is facing the camera but looking at something else. He wears a gown just like Lisanna. Messy pink spikes stick out from under his cap.

As for him, he has aged. He has more toned features now. He has a baby face in the picture. I feel a slight satisfaction feeling inside of me as I've finally seen how Natsu looked when he was a teenager.

"Sorry for the wait," Mirajane comes back from the room with more casual clothes on. She catches what I'm looking at. "Lisanna was so happy on that day."

"You look happy yourself," I switch back to her graduation picture.

"You'll be happy as well when you graduate next year," she states while signaling me to go into the kitchen with her.

"Let's hope so," I sit down in the chair I sat in when I ate dinner with the siblings. A question pops into my mind and even though my heart is screaming at me not to my mind ignores it.

"Does Lisanna still like Laxus-sensei?"

The question drifts in the air longer than it should be as Mirajane takes a seat in the chair that's across from mine. She places two glasses of water on the table. After getting situated she let's out a sigh.

"Hopefully," she eventually answers.

"Hopefully?" I echo.

She nods, "Lisanna hasn't been in many relationships. I'm happy that she's finally letting herself fall for someone."

"Why hasn't she been in many relationships?" I hope I don't sound too desperate.

"Well, for one," she begins. "Boys weren't good when her and I were in high school. They were all in rebels and got in lots of trouble each day. And second, Lisanna was in a two year relationship that ended up not working out. It scarred her."

"What happened?" My voice comes out softer than I intended it to be; the thought of Lisanna heartbroken, much less anyone, makes me feel extremely sympathetic.

Mirajane frowns and it's completely visible that she doesn't want to tell the story. My selfishness doesn't bother to stop her.

"Lisanna had known the guy throughout high school, but they didn't speak officially until high school. She always had a small crush on him—it fully bloomed when they became friends. Once they became friends Lisanna would always barge into my room declaring she spoke to him," Mirajane reminisces with a smile.

"A year after knowing each other they became a couple. I approved the second I saw him because not only was he not a rebel, he made Lisanna the happiest I have ever seen her. Seeing Lisanna in love with him made me happy."

"They sounded pretty happy together, why did they break up?" I think of the all the possible reasons.

"They faded apart. School became busy all of a sudden and they didn't have time for each other. I'm not entirely sure if it ended up in a fight but I hope it didn't," she finishes.

"I would love to see Lisanna be in a relationship again," I say.

_Not with Natsu, though._

"Me too," she agrees.

I straighten my back, "Who was the guy, anyway? Do you know where he is now?"

"Believe it or not, you know who this person is," Mirajane's grimace returns.

"Who is it?" A cloud of anxiety comes back above my head.

"Your English teacher, Natsu."

I freeze. Of course, Natsu had a life before I came into his life. The past is in the past, when did history repeat itself, anyway? His past relationships shouldn't bother me but they do.

"They do look like they have chemistry," I say although it pains me to. Whether I like it or not, it's a fact. I could tell just by watching them laugh.

I decide to take my leave. The lump that formed in my throat is becoming unbearable now.

"I need to go do my homework," I lie as I get up.

"Ah, right. It was nice talking to you again!" Mirajane's bubbly persona comes out.

I force myself to smile and leave her apartment. As I'm unlocking my door and stepping in I hear footsteps from the stairs. If it is Lisanna or even Natsu, I don't check. I slam the door a little harder than I mean to. Shuffling to my room, I go straight to my bed and stare up at my ceiling with waltzing shadows from the late afternoon sun.

The shadows must have lured me to sleep because I open my eyes to darkness. My nose is runny and my face is sticky. I go to the bathroom to blow my nose and see myself in the mirror. My eyes are puffy and the same shade of red as my nose.

My stomach rumbles and I feel that my stomach is thoroughly empty. I'm still in my uniform that has wrinkled while I slept. I take it off and slip on a blue sweater and black pants. There is only one thing that will make me feel slightly better and it resides in a freezer at the convenience store.

I step outside and shove my hands in my pockets. I hurriedly stride to the store as the cold air blows by me.

There isn't a worker in the store but the resonating bell surely makes whoever is working know I'm here. I go to the frozen aisle and open the door that contained the macaroni and cheese when I came here the first time.

It's not here. I check not once but twice and my heart falls. I let go of the door and let it shut by itself. As I'm turning back around to exit the aisle I make an abrupt stop when I'm about to bump into someone. Before I look up to apologize I see they're holding onto a macaroni and cheese box.

"Where did you get that?" I ask loudly with surprise. My jaw drops when I see it who it is.

"Do you want it?" Natsu stretches it out at me.

"No, you can keep it," I push it back to him and look behind his shoulder.

"Why won't you look at me?" He moves closer to me and moves his head to where I'm looking.

I look him straight in the eyes and anger boils up inside of me.

"Why won't you _speak_ to me?"

Natsu makes an expression that I've never seen since I met him. It's guilt.

"I'm sorry, Luce," he apologizes softly. "I was just being immature about a simple kiss. I shouldn't have ignored you or left you alone on the rooftop. I'll make it up to you, I swear."

My angry thoughts are on the tip of my tongue but I swallow them down. Natsu is genuinely apologizing and looks like he's hurting. He's hurting just like I am.

"I'm sorry, too," I say, directly looking at him. "What happened at karaoke won't happen again. It was a mistake."

I don't ever want to see that anguished expression again.

"Let's have dinner together," he invites me coyly. We don't have to say it out loud; just one day of separation feels like years.

I nod and grin at him. Natsu somehow knew just how to calm me down. I turn back around and step back to see if anything else appeals to me. There's a frozen personal pan pizza and just as I'm about to reach for it Natsu stops me.

"Have it," he hands me the macaroni box. I'm reminded of the first time we met when he gave me the Fairy Tail key chain.

I don't argue because what can I say, if someone proposes to me my favorite meal I'm going to take it. After Natsu gets his meal I walk to the front of the store. Just as I'm about to turn the corner to the cashier's counter and my breath gets caught in my throat. I quickly return to the aisle and peek around it. Natsu's chest presses against my back.

"What is it?" Natsu looks down at me confused.

I look back at him with wide eyes. I wasn't going to panic because the noise would only make us louder. I try to think of all the things I can do to save us.

"Sting is here."


	17. At Last

**My favorite chapter out of this whole story by far. Really proud of myself for this one.**

**I'm not sure I'm going to have time to write much these next few days, I apologize if the next chapter is late! **

**And (early) Happy Independence Day, Americans! Don't get blown up.**

**Enjoy chapter 17, guys. [:**

* * *

I take another peek at Sting using the shelves to cover me. He has a blank expression while he stares at nothing but empty air.

"What do we do?" I whisper to Natsu frantically.

He's in the middle of thinking. He searches around the aisle and begins walking to the back of the store. I follow him wordlessly.

"So you're going to go pay for your food while I wait here," Natsu forms a plan with a low voice. "I'm going to pay for my food in five minutes or so. Wait outside but not where Sting can see you."

I nod nervously and Natsu's expression softens.

"If you're nervous, I'll be nervous," he puts his hand on my shoulders. Oh, how I've missed the feeling of his hands.

"I'll be fine," I say confidently. Just as I'm about to go back to the front of the store, Natsu puts his hand on his forehead.

"Good luck, Luce," he salutes me. I beam and return the salute.

I exit the aisle and step to Sting. He's bent down looking below the counter; only his blonde hair is visible. He hasn't heard me yet so I clear my throat as I place my meal on the counter.

"Will that be—" Sting pauses mid-sentence.

"Yep," I answer as I watch his face light up red.

"This is so embarrassing," Sting looks down at the counter flustered. He scans the box and looks at the plastic bags. "Do you want one?"

"Sure," I reply, watching him mess up all the bags. He rips two of them. I stifle a laugh.

"Please come again, Lucy," Sting smiles at me and hands me the bag after I pay. I understand that it's mandatory for him to say that but it sounds almost like a request. I accidentally put my fingers above his when I reach for the bag. I pretend not to notice.

"I will," I return the smile and walk out of the store. I'm just about outside when Sting calls out to me.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" He declares.

I give him a wave and step outside. I sigh loudly, leaning against the wall on the side of the store. Now I just have to wait for Natsu.

The wait isn't as long as I thought it was going to be. I'm only outside for at least three minutes when Natsu leaves the store. He gives me a smile as he finds where I'm standing.

"Who knew Sting was scared of teachers?" Natsu asks while we're walking home.

"What did you say to him?" I inquire hoping Natsu didn't say something threatening to him.

"Nothing," he grins. "The second he saw me he became polite and even bowed a little."

"He ripped two bags when I was up there," I laugh.

"Some nerve he has," I hear Natsu mutter under his breath.

"What did you say?" I tease. "Are you jealous?"

"Does cold macaroni sound good to you?" He gives me a villainous smile in attempt to cover his pink cheeks. While going up the stairs I giggle at him. He looks annoyed but his eyes don't.

Natsu unlocks his door and steps in. He lets me walk past him inside and shuts the door behind me. After heating up our food and having both of our foods fight to be the dominant smell, we sit down at the table in the kitchen.

I can't hide my smile as I eat the macaroni. Natsu looks at me strangely.

"Do you like it that much?" He asks suspiciously.

I push the tray towards him, "Try it."

He pops a piece of the shell pasta inside his mouth. I look at him excitedly, ready for him to agree on how great it tastes.

He slides the tray back, "Tastes like regular macaroni."

I frown but then I remember, "Why did you have it before, anyway?"

"I wanted to try it," he squirms in his seat.

"Oh, really now?" I smirk.

"Be quiet," Natsu averts his eyes and continues to eat his food.

My thoughts have been clouded with happiness but one thought escapes the cloud. Lisanna.

"I was talking to Mirajane earlier," I state awkwardly.

"She likes her neighbors too much," he shakes his head.

"She was telling me about Lisanna's past," I pick my words carefully, if I don't I'm going to end up saying something I don't mean. "She said you and her were a couple."

"It's true," Natsu says.

My heartbeat pounds against my ribs.

"Did you love Lisanna?" I make sure my voice doesn't waver.

"I did," he answers.

"Do you still love her?" Natsu and I stare at each other.

"No," he responds.

I feel like I'm in the middle of interrogating someone, "Why not?"

I expected Natsu to hesitate. He couldn't possibly answer why he wasn't in love anymore; nobody could. I receive an answer as fast as Natsu received the question.

"Because I met you."

I'm completely startled. My voice is somewhere in my throat but I can't find it. I view my empty tray, refusing to look at Natsu.

I move my head just a bit so I can look at him. His face mirrors mine. We're both surprised at what he said.

"I'm so uncool," Natsu groans.

I crack a smile. My heart feels like it's going to burst any moment now.

"I'm not worried anymore," I breathe out in relief.

Natsu reaches for my hand and holds on to it hesitantly but then laces his fingers with mine comfortably.

"Sorry for making you worry," he apologizes even though there's not one reason why he needs to.

The way Natsu is gazing at me, so intently, overwhelms me so much to the point where I question if this is a dream or not. Natsu must notice something because he backs off. I want to beg him not to.

"I'll throw these away," he releases my hand to pick up my trash. He goes to the other side of the kitchen.

I raise myself from my seat and my legs lead me to the living room. I haven't noticed this before but where there's a small chair in my apartment, there's a bookshelf here. The books draw me in like magic.

I've never heard of any of these titles before and it excites me. Natsu has been to a world filled with books just like me. The highest shelf makes me have to rise on the tips of my toes. Although I can hardly see, the sight of spines of books make me feel joy.

"My books get shy if you stare at them for too long," Natsu's voice is right next to my ear.

I spin around and he's so close it makes me have to lean my back against the shelf. His eyes are pinning me to it. I've never seen Natsu this close up, I don't want to look away.

"Hey, Luce," he says my name gruffly but it has a smooth touch to it. Nobody has ever spoken to me in this type of voice, I yearn for more. Natsu swallows and asks carefully.

"Can I kiss you?" He leans in closer, looking at me intensely.

Those four simple words make my heart go wild. I nod my head a little. I fear that I will ruin the moment if I speak. Natsu puts his index finger under my chin and his thumb rests on it. Electricity is running through my veins and radiating out of the pores of my skin.

The second I feel Natsu's lips on mine, I feel light-headed. There's not one spark—there are _multiple_. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and his hand that holds up my chin smoothly slides down my back and rests at my waist. When we part, we're breathless. Natsu gives me one more delicate peck. This is how I wanted my first kiss to be.

"Wow," we say together. We laugh, our faces still close.

"I love you," Natsu whispers softly.

"I love you, too," I whisper back.

We stay like this for a while, having our foreheads pressed against each other. We're enjoying the feeling of being close to the one you love. I can feel his heartbeat pulsing under his scarf.

Even after we separate we don't stop touching. Neither of us want to let go of the others' hand. We sit on his couch together having the TV turned on but not paying attention to it. Time doesn't exist to us anymore; it's merely an illusion. Well, that's what we thought when we weren't tired.

"It's a school night," I realize as I check the time after a yawn. It's two in the morning.

"We're going to be so tired tomorrow," Natsu hangs his head off the edge of the couch.

"I don't want to go," I pout but get up from the couch. I stretch and start walking to the door. Natsu follows me and opens it for me. We step outside and goosebumps jump onto my skin right away. If I were to breathe out hard enough a soft cloud would float into the air and evaporate as quickly as it came.

"Thank you for having dinner with me," Natsu smiles slyly; dinner was completely forgotten about after the kiss.

Natsu leans in and gives me a gentle kiss. It isn't as intense as the first one but the same sweet feeling is there.

"Goodnight, Luce," he says against my lips, giving me the last kiss. It sends shivers down my spine.

"Goodnight," I say with a smile that hasn't left yet. I enter my apartment and Natsu's door clicks shut at the same time as mine.

After changing I lay in my bed and think back to everything that just happened. I'm wafting on cloud nine.

I play some soft music to help me drift to sleep faster. Right before I fall asleep our second favorite song plays like a lullaby. It gives me a small reminder that Natsu is all mine and I am all his.


	18. Calm Before The Storm

**I am not good at time skips, oh my. **

**This chapter is boring and I'm sorry. ;-; Every fanfic has a filler chapter.. Right? Good news! I'm going to make sure the next chapter is super long because I've updated short chapters lately and I don't like it. So look forward to a long chapter soon!**

**And again, thank you all for reading this story. It makes me so happy. c':**

* * *

An exasperated groan leaves my body as I hear the ear-splitting sound of my alarm.

"Never again," I say groggily.

I managed to catch a mere three hours of sleep. The only thing that has the power to lift me up from my bed is the thought of seeing Natsu today.

I lug to the kitchen, making myself two cups of coffee. I gulp one down while changing into my uniform. I sip the next cup slowly while walking to the station.

"Did you miss me?" Loke asks as soon as he sees me enter the train.

"I missed the silence," I reply, "but where were you yesterday?"

"I was late," he smiles sheepishly. "Were you worried?"

I glare at him without saying anything. I decide to search around to see if there are any open seats. I find one and head over to it, Loke follows me.

"You look tired," he points out.

"I fell asleep late," I explain.

"Thinking about me, right?" He leans against one of the poles, ready for me to agree.

I don't answer because I'm too busy trying to keep my head up. It's awfully heavy.

Loke's pickup lines are what keep me awake through the train ride. While walking to school, I stop at a vending machine to buy another cup of canned coffee.

"Good morning, Lu-chan," Levy waves, eying my coffee.

"I didn't get enough sleep," I take another sip.

"I'm going to start texting you to go to sleep," she warns.

Gajeel plops into his seat mumbling a low hi to Levy. He drops his head on his desk and the snoring session begins.

I don't feel uncertainty when I think of Lisanna now; however I hardly listen to her. I feel myself mirroring Gajeel's lazy position. To stop myself, I draw small doodles along the margins of my notebook. I somehow make it through the class without going unconscious.

The short walk from the classroom to the hallway slightly wakes me up. My eyes don't feel as heavy now, but I close them anyway while turning my back to Levy and Gajeel. I stand there and another yawn emerges from my lips. I open my eyes and I'm surprised by who is walking my way.

Natsu, just like me, has a cup of coffee in his right hand. He raises it a little to me as a sign of a toast and I have to forbid myself to smile. I rise my can a bit and nod. As he passes by me, his hand brushes mine. He almost holds onto it.

"Your cheeks are red, are you sick?" Levy questions when we walk to our next class.

"I don't think so," I answer.

I'm grateful that gym requires moving. Now that my coffee is finished, I can move around and wake myself up.

"It is too cold, men!" Elf-sensei howls. "Today we stay inside and rest!"

I hang my head back and sigh. Maybe I can use this rest to catch up on my sleep.

"Wake me up when this class is over," I tell Levy and Cana, laying my head on the table that we're sitting in.

"Okay," is the last thing I hear as I drift off to sleep.

It feels like it's been hours since I told the girls to wake me up. I feel a small push on my shoulder and I lift my head to look at them.

"Is class over?" I ask, not feeling the least bit tired.

"Yep, come on," Levy surges from her seat.

"I feel like I've slept for three hours," I say.

"Or 40 minutes," she shrugs.

My next class doesn't interest me as much so I let my thoughts take over. I daydream until I hear the ringing of a bell.

"A new couple has formed," Cana announces to our lunch table.

"Who?" I look at everyone at the table.

Cana stares at Wendy and Romeo. Their faces match the ketchup on everyone's tray.

"Congrats!" Levy roughly smacks Romeo's shoulder.

"Thank you," Wendy replies, glancing at Romeo rubbing his shoulder.

"You need a boyfriend, Lucy," Cana looks at me with pity.

"So does Juvia!" Juvia shouts, slamming her hands on the table.

"You should confess to Gray-sensei after we graduate," Levy suggests.

She nods, "Juvia has planned the confession ever since Juvia laid her eyes on Gray-sensei."

"Smart," Gajeel compliments.

"Or you could confess to him during the school festival in a couple of weeks," Cana brings to everyone's mind.

"Are there a lot of confessions here during school festivals?" I inquire.

"It's the most popular time for people to confess! There are more confessions during school festivals than Valentine's day," Levy informs.

"A lot of people kissing, too," Juvia adds.

"Now we get to add two new couples to the kissing list!" Cana cheers, making Gajeel and Romeo twitch. Levy and Wendy twirl their thumbs around under the table.

"What if Lucy gets confessed to?" Levy speaks her thoughts aloud.

"She might," Cana says with a serious tone.

"How do you know?" Wendy asks.

"Just a feeling," Cana goes back to eating her food. My shoulders slump, along with the others. We all thought she was going to say something that blew our minds.

After lunch ends, I step into ceramics and grab my half-sculpted leaf. I'm praying to Mavis that after class my clay will completely resemble a leaf.

"Keep up the good work," Gray-sensei encourages Levy when class is almost over.

"Juvia is doing a better job," Levy effortlessly directs his attention to her.

"Smooth," I whisper to her with envy. Levy winks at me in return.

I leave the class with content; my sculpture is finally a leaf. The next three days will be painting and finishing touches.

My next two classes flash before my eyes and I'm soon going into English with Levy. The first thing I notice are the amount of coffee cups on Natsu's desk.

"Looks like Natsu was tired with you today," Levy says as we sit down.

"Weird," I respond while trying to hide my smile.

Sting arrives and gives me his regular smile. I give him a small smile back.

The bell soon signals us that class has started and Natsu strolls in class and leans against the board.

"Today's a story day," he tells us. "What do you think we should write today, class?"

"Space," a student calls out.

"Stars in space," another student adds more.

"Sounds good to me," Natsu nods. "When you finish, find someone who is also finished and switch with them."

"He's tired but in a good mood," Levy mutters loud enough for me to hear over the ruffling papers.

I begin writing, my pencil swiftly flying across the lines. I finish in a short fifteen minutes and Levy glares at me. She's only halfway down her page while my page is fully loaded with words. I give her a thumbs up as support. Levy finishes quickly and we swap papers quietly and I read her story.

"Did this actually happen?" I ask her after reading.

"Yes," she turns away to cover her face.

"Gajeel is such a romantic," I say incredulously.

"What about you?" Levy looks at my paper. "This sounds pretty real to me."

"I saw it on a movie," I lie.

"I want to see it. I want to hear how his voice sounds when he's describing the constellations," she daydreams.

"One day we'll watch it," I assure her with slight guilt.

Levy and I speak with each other the rest of the period. The bell dismisses us and as I'm leaving I give Natsu a side glance. He's in the middle of picking up his coffee cups and he pauses. He raises his head and grins at me, his canines popping out.

"Sleep early tonight," Levy tells me in the tone of a mother.

"I will," I nod.

"See you tomorrow!" Levy exclaims and waves goodbye.

I decide to go to the library and check out a new book. I push the doors wide enough for me to step through and enter. I cruise along the shelves and wait for something catch my eye.

"First time I see you here," a voice says behind me.

I turn around, "Hey, Sting."

"So about yesterday," he begins.

"What about it?" I ask.

"Well, um—"

"Please be quiet, this is a library," a librarian scolds us.

"Sorry," I whisper. "I'll talk to you later, Sting."

He frowns, "See you tomorrow."

I shuffle away from him and go in another aisle of books. Once I'm content with the book I find, I check it out and make my way to the rooftop. I leaf through the pages with excitement while going up the stairs and opening the door to the rooftop. I'm too engrossed into my new book I don't notice Natsu is already here.

"Oh," I say when I notice him in one of the chairs. "Did I take too long in the library?"

"I just came here early," he explains while snatching my book away.

"Have you read this book before?" I watch him skim the pages.

"A long time ago," he answers. "The main character ends up dying in the war."

"What?!" I shriek. "Why did you have to spoil it?"

"I was kidding," Natsu gives me back the book.

"Really?" I ask with hopeful eyes.

"Perhaps," he responds with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

I sigh, "Someday I'm going to spoil a book for you."

"Good luck," he smiles at me.

We talk for a while, somehow getting our hands entangled together, and I remember something that's happening at the end of this week.

"Saturday is the Fairy Tail concert," I remind the both of us.

"I saw that the tickets were sold out," he replies.

"There's going to be a lot of people," I say.

"And hopefully we won't see someone we know there."

I stare at our entwined fingers, "Hopefully."

Natsu squeezes my hands slightly to calm my worries.

"This week better go by fast," I groan.

And it seems my plead has been granted; the rest of the week breezes by.

"See you Monday, Lu-chan!" Levy hugs me on Friday.

"See you," I return the hug.

And before I know it, I'm already waking up on the crisp Saturday morning waiting to get ready for the Fairy Tail concert.


End file.
